How does the system of CAO offers work?
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In the first round of offers the student is offered the highest preference which they have listed on their CAO Application to which their points rating entitles them in this year’s round of offers. Once they have been offered their highest choice, the student is excluded from further consideration for any course which is lower than the place offered.
The student may still be eligible for a course of higher preference if a place becomes available later on. You can make enquiries on www.cao.ie by using the Contact Us facility. The CAO Handbook also gives examples of how the system of offers works
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Will points go up or down?
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This year it is suggested that a number of factors will contribute to the increase in points across certain high demand courses:
- The new bonus points system for Honours Maths which awards 25 additional points to successful Higher Level Maths candidates
- Strong demand for courses in Science, Technology & Agriculture
- A fall in the number of Irish students applying to colleges in Britain
- A potential increase in the number of UK students
- Population trends, the total number of CAO applicants, state of the economy, employment opportunities and a steady increase in the number of mature student applicants are additional factors that may affect the setting of points, since they all have an influence on supply and demand of courses.
However points may drop or remain steady in some cases as the demand for a number of courses has decreased in recent years. For many students the CAO Offers Process is a straightforward one. They are offered their first choice of course. They accept it and register for college, proceeding into a most exciting and rewarding time of life.
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If he doesn’t get his first choice what other CAO options are available to him?
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Hopefully he will be offered the first course choice in the first round of offers but if not there are a number of additional CAO options available to him. These include:
- Offer of another course choice further down the CAO list
- Offer of a similar course at a lower level
- Offer of their preferred course choice in ROUND 2 or subsequent round
- Offer of their preferred course choice on successful appeal of Leaving Cert Results. For information on this process click here
- Available places listed on CAO website, click here
- Other options outside the CAO, click here
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How is a CAO offer accepted?
My daughter got exactly what she wanted. She applied for LM065 Applied Physics in University of Limerick as her first choice on Level 8 CAO and has been offered a place in the first round of offers. She plans to accept. What is the procedure for accepting an offer?
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When an offer arrives, she should read through the offer and instructions carefully first. To accept an offer, she simply logs into the CAO system using her access code and password and submits her acceptance of the offer.
She needs to be sure that she does this well inside the deadline, particularly if she is returning her acceptance by standard post. This year August 27th 2012 is the closing date for acceptance of a first round offer. If she is unavailable to do this for any reason, she should designate a trusted family member to respond on her behalf.
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My son has been offered Level 7 Engineering. If he accepts this offer can he still be offered a Level 8 Engineering course in the next round?
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Yes he can accept the Level 7 course and this will not affect his chances of being offered a Level 8 course in the next round. However, he may not be offered a level 8 course in the second round so it is a good idea for him to accept the Level 7 course anyway. Many students find that entering college at level 6 or 7 in their chosen course area works out very well in the long term.
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My daughter is hoping to get into Nursing in NUIG. On the basis of the current Leaving Cert result, she may fall short of the points. However she thinks she may be upgraded on appeal. What should she do when the first round of CAO offers comes round?
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If your daughter has filled in all ten Nursing choices on her CAO form, it’s possible she will be offered a place on a Nursing course with lower points. Before accepting this offer, she should consider
- Genuine course interest
- Medium & longer term career plan
- Possible transfer options between courses and colleges
- Geography
- Costs
If she decides that the first CAO course offered is not for her, then she can simply allow the offer to lapse and await the second round and the results of the appeals process.
Alternatively she may accept the offer and consider transferring or deferring to any new course offered that might be offered to her on appeal. She must also consider the possibility that her LC results may not be upgraded on appeal.
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LEVEL 6/7 OR LEVEL 8?
Our daughter has been offered a Childcare course at Level 7. Her first choice is Childcare at Level 8 in the same college but she fell short by 15 points. She has been offered a Level 8 course in Psychology at another private college which charges full tuition fees. What should she do?
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Before deciding whether to accept the Level 7 offer or allow it to lapse and possibly take up the Level 8 Psychology course in a private college, your daughter can consider the following:
- Area of course and career interest
- Progression links from Level 7 to Level 8. She can check this out on www.qualifax.ie or with the individual college. It is often better to do a Level 7 course that progresses to the Level 8 course of career choice, than to do a Level 8 course that is of less interest and career value
- Location
- Costs. Costs in Private colleges can run to several thousand euro more than the standard college registration fee
If she decides to accept the level 7 offer, this can be done online, before the deadline. If she accepts, the level 8 Psychology offer will lapse. She should keep an eye out on the second and subsequent rounds of CAO offers. As there may be still a chance that she will be offered her first Level 8 course choice. In this case, she can accept her first choice Level 8 offer and her Level 7 offer will lapse.
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ACCEPTING ROUND 1 OFFERS WHILE WAITING FOR RESULTS OF APPEAL
Is it possible to accept a Round 1 offer while also planning an appeal of scripts with a view to being upgraded to a higher course choice?
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A round 1 offer can be accepted and later superseded by taking up a later offer arising out of a successful appeal.
E.g: Amy, with 455 points has been offered her second choice of MH115 Law with Arts BCL (NUIM) at 450 points in the first round of CAO offers. Though it’s not her first choice, she accepts it and will be happy enough to continue with this course.
On appeal her grades bring her points score up to 465 points and she is offered her first choice of MH119 LLB (NUIM) 460 points. (Note: These figures are based on 2011 points)
Though it is now Mid October and several weeks into term, she has been offered a place on MH119. Amy must decide if she wants to transfer over to a new course, several weeks into the college academic year or remain in her current course until the end of the year.
In some cases colleges offer the option of a deferred place next year on the preferred course. Amy should contact the college student advisor. They will establish what is the best option is for her. Students are sometimes advised to consider a deferral until next year if they are five or six weeks into a course.
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What should we do if Amy decides to defer her preferred LLB option until next year?
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If Amy decides to defer the process is simple. However, it’s important to do it right and to keep an eye on CAO deadlines for the forthcoming year. Sometimes it can be overlooked if the young person has opted to go on a gap year or if there are other important things going on in the household.
The procedure is:
- Amy informs the college directly that she intends to defer her LLB place until next year
- The following year Amy reapplies to the CAO for the 1st February deadline, placing the deferred course as her only preference, ensuring she has put down the correct course code – in this case MH119. She will be offered the course in Round A (July) before the main round of CAO offers.
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FEES FOR INTERVENING YEAR?
My son is now five weeks into a Physiotherapy course in UL but has just been offered a deferred place on Medicine in NUIG for next September. He is enjoying Physiotherapy and feels it is a good bridge for him between school and the study of Medicine. However, we need to be sensible about money and don’t want to be charged a year’s full fees on 1st year Medicine when the time comes. We can budget for the standard registration fees but would have to reconsider if it meant being charge full fees. What is the situation with fees in this case?
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So far, the (DES) Department of Education & Science has allowed students to attend college in the intervening year before taking up their deferred course, without the student being liable for full fees the following year. This situation is outside the control of colleges and there is no guarantee that this situation won’t change at some point in the future.
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THE PROBLEM WITH MATHS
My son applied to do Engineering in DIT. He got the required number of points but failed Maths and hasn’t been offered a place. Does he have to repeat Leaving Cert Maths in the coming year?
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A number of colleges, including DIT, offer Engineering students the MCT = Maths Competency Test or equivalent. This gives the student a chance to boost the Maths results and secure their college place. Students that have studied the Leaving Cert Higher Level Maths programme are invited to sit the MCT.
A two day tutorial runs on Monday / Tuesday 20th & 21st August. The 3 hour MCT exam takes place on Wednesday 22nd August.
Application for the MCT in DIT is to mark.russell@dit.ie Tel: 01 4027661 (Name, address, CAO number and phone contact number required for application). Full details available here
Other Colleges offering Special Maths Entrance exams are:
NUI Maynooth Friday 24th August. Contact Maynooth Admissions Office 01 7083822 Application and other details available here.
NUI Galway Wednesday 22nd August (5 day preparatory course Thursday 16th August to Tuesday 21th August) Application and other details available here. The deadline for applications for the examination is Friday, August 17 and photo ID will be required on the day of the exam.
A number of students opt to repeat Leaving Cert Maths the following year. For more information on how bonus points for Maths work go here
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What if my child accepts a Round 1 offer and receives a better offer in Round 2?
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He can accept the Round 2 offer which will automatically cancel out the Round 1 offer – since only 1 acceptance from any candidate can remain in the CAO system at any given time.
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How does The CAO RANDOM NUMBER PROCESS of allocating places work?
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If only 3 places remain out a possible 200 places on a course, and the 198th to the 202nd eligible applicants all have the same points, only 3 out of these 5 applicants can be awarded a place. When applying to college courses through the CAO, each applicant is allocated a random number for each course. This number is totally random – similar to a lottery number, and bears no relation to any other factors including CAO number, date of application, or order of course choice.
The applicant with the highest random number is allocated the first of the three remaining places and likewise for the two remaining places. The three eligible course applicants with the three highest random numbers are allocated the three remaining places.
You can read the full explanation at www.cao.ie
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If my son is awarded a place on a course (eg by Random Number) and another student with is upgraded on appeal, can my son lose his place on the course?
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How is it possible to get more than the required number of points for a course and still not be offered a place?
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This can happen if an applicant doesn’t meet any of the following entry criteria:
- Individual College minimum entry requirements
- Specific Course requirement – eg a particular grade in Maths or a language
Entry requirements can be checked for each course on www.qualifax.ie. It’s important to also ensure that language exemptions in the Leaving Cert have been duly registered with NUI or other appropriate authority.
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What is DEFERRAL and why do some students opt for this?
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If a young person is offered the course they really wanted and worked towards, the offer is a tangible educational commodity. They may wish to defer their place for any number of reasons.
The most common reasons are: sports or other commitments, travel or gap year, family commitments, bereavement, health.
In this case they should contact the admissions office of the college in question and explain clearly their reasons for deferring. The college will then inform the CAO directly of the student’s deferral.
In rare cases deferral may not prove possible.
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NO OFFER???
My son worked very hard for his exams but got no offer of a college place in the first CAO round. He did not appeal his LC results as he felt they were a fair reflection of his performance. Does he have any chance of a place this year through the CAO?
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He may still be offered a course in Round 2. Alternatively he can check into www.cao.ie for available places.
When checking through available places on the CAO site, it’s important to note that private colleges charge full tuition fees. A small number of colleges including DIT offer direct entry courses. He can contact the individual college for details of these courses.
Other non-CAO options can be explored from here
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My son received two offers from the CAO - a Level 8 and a Level 7 course. Can he accept both and make a final decision later?
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He can only accept one offer at a time. If he is having difficulty deciding, he has until Monday 27th August at 5.15 PM to make up his mind. This gives him time to weigh up the options including which course is most suited to his interests and career plans down the line. He can discuss the issue with his Guidance Counsellor, or call the NPC / IGC helpline. He can also check out the course content, modules and progression routes via http://www.qualifax.ie or by going directly to college & faculty websites.
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