The Central Applications Office (CAO) has today (Wednesday, August 30) issued 87,075 round one offers to 57,980 CAO applicants.

These offers consist of 52,949 Level 8 course offers and 34,126 Level 6 and 7 course offers.

59% of the Level 8 offers are for the applicant’s first preference course, while 85% of Level 8 offers are for one of their top three preferences.  

A total of 33,713, being 99% of Level 6 and 7 applicants, received offers for one of their top three preferences. 

Points for agri-related courses

There were some notable drops in the points requirements for veterinary and agricultural courses around the country.

The points for the veterinary medicine undergraduate course at University College Dublin (UCD) fell from 601 in 2022 to 589 in 2023.

The points for the South East Technological University (SETU) agricultural science course in Waterford dropped from 401 to 382 this year.

The agricultural science course at University of Galway stands at 423 points, down from 451 last year.

Dundalk Institute of Technology’s (DkIT) agriculture course dropped from 319 points in 2022 to 300 this year.

Points for the Level 8 agricultural science course at UCD remained the same as 2022, at 400 points.

In Atlantic Technological University’s (ATU) Letterkenny campus, the Level 8 agriculture course rose by 17 points to 317.

The points for agricultural science at University College Cork (UCC) also increased from 487 to 496 this year.

In Munster Technological University (MTU), the Level 8 agricultural science course rose by one point, to 308 points.

CAO offers

CAO offers must be accepted by 3:00p.m on Tuesday, September 5.

Eileen Keleghan, head of communications for CAO, has asked applicants to carefully consider any offers received in this round.

“One of the common queries that we receive at the offers stage is around order of preference,” she said.

“Applicants who receive a lower preference offer can accept this offer, and it will not prevent them from receiving an offer of a course higher up on their courses list in a later round should a place become available and they are deemed eligible.

“Those who have received an offer in this round should also consider the current offer carefully as it may be the only one they will receive.”

If an applicant has not received an offer they will receive a statement of application email.

“It is important that applicants notify CAO immediately if there are any errors or omissions in their CAO account,” she added.

“They must make sure to do this as soon as possible to allow any corrections to be considered for subsequent rounds.”

Round two offers will be available to view on the CAO website from 2:00p.m on September 11. The reply date by which round two offers must be accepted is September 13 at 3:00p.m.

Offers are then issued on a weekly basis to fill any remaining places.