Answers to some of tomorrow’s big CAO questions

Institute of Guidance Counsellors’ president Betty McLaughlin deals with issues that arise after CAO Round 1

How do I accept an offer?

An offer can be accepted online (or by post, but not both). If you have two offers, one from Level 8 and one from level 7/6, accepting one automatically declines the other.

Remember, it is sometimes preferable to accept a Level 7/6 offer over a Level 8 offer, if the Level 7/6 course has content that is of greater interest than the Level 8 course and has the option of being converted or transferred to a Level 8 equivalent.

How do I defer my offer?

If you receive an offer but want to defer, then the offer should not be accepted. Instead, you should contact the admissions office of the college (not the CAO) immediately, and follow their instructions. Each college operates different procedures.

A candidate is guaranteed an offer of a place the following year (even if the points increase) once they follow certain procedures.

What is random selection?

It sometimes happens that more than one student has the same number of points as the cut-off points that will be published tomorrow. In this case all the students on these points are given a random, electronically generated number.

If, for example, there are 10 students on the same points and there are four available places, the four students with the highest random numbers are selected for the course, effectively an electronically based lottery. When the CAO tables are published, the courses that use this random selection have an asterisk (*) beside the points.

If I don’t get the offer I want tomorrow, can I get it in the second round?

In CAO Round 1, an applicant will receive an offer for the course highest on their list for which they meet the minimum entry requirements and have enough points. This may be their top choice or a lower choice.

If they receive their first preference, they will receive no further offer for a course on that list. If they receive a lower choice, it is possible that they will receive a subsequent offer for a course higher up their list, if a place becomes available on Round 2, or later. However, they cannot receive an offer for any course lower on their list than the first one that they have been offered.

It is advisable to accept the course on offer if you have researched it and are happy with it, as even though you are still in competition for a higher preference offer, there is no guarantee that further places will become available.

Please note that in accepting an offer you are in no way excluding yourself from a further offer of a course higher up your preference list.

If I start a course, can I transfer?

There are a few limited avenues whereby you can transfer from a course in one college to a similar course in another college, having completed the first or more years on your original course. The content of these courses must overlap. These options are not guaranteed, very limited, and depend on both results obtained at the end of first year (subsequent years) and availability of places.

Similarly, there are transfer options between courses within the same college provided you obtained the points required for the course.

What are my options if I have no offer?

There are many, including:

On Tuesday, the CAO will publish online a list of available places on courses that did not have enough eligible applicants. Applicants for these places must meet minimum entry requirements.

Private colleges, such as Griffith College, DBS and Dorset College, have some courses on the CAO and they also have others for which direct application can be made.

Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses in colleges of further education throughout the country prepare candidates for employment and/or entry to higher education. Check careersportal.ie/courses/plc

Apprenticeships are coming back in both traditional trades and new areas, such as accounting, insurance, finance and technology. Useful websites include solas.ie; apprentices.ie;careersportal. ie/apprenticeships.

Repeating – but talk to a teacher or guidance counsellor first.