CAO offers made for agri and veterinary courses around the country
The Central Applications Office (CAO) has today (Wednesday, August 26) issued 90,866 round one offers to a total of 62,166 applicants.
These offers consist of 56,618 Level 8 course offers and 34,248 Level 7/6 course offers.
26,917 (48%) Level 8 offers are for the applicant's first preference course, and 42,989 (76%) Level 8 offers are for one of their top three preferences, according to the CAO.
29,812 (87%) Level 7/6 offers are for the applicant's first preference course, and 33,507 (98%) Level 7/6 offers are for one of their top three preferences.
Points have changed for a number of popular agricultural courses around the country.
Level 8 agri courses
Points for University College Cork's (UCC) agricultural science Level 8 course are 478 this year, down slightly from 484 in 2025.
Points for agricultural science at University College Dublin (UCD) are 417, down from 431 in 2025.
University of Galway's agricultural science course points are 410, compared to 420 in 2025.
The points for agricultural science at Munster Technological University in Kerry are 308, down from 331 in 2025.
Veterinary medicine
The points for the undergraduate veterinary medicine programme at UCD are 589, in line with the previous year.
Veterinary nursing in UCD is 484 points, up from 468 in 2025.
Veterinary medicine course points at South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford are 566, while the veterinary medicine and surgery course points at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Letterkenny are 647. These are both new courses in 2026.
The number of Level 8 veterinary medicine round one offers made increased by 115% on last year, while first preferences for these courses were up 42%.
Offers
Offers must be accepted by 3:00p.m on Tuesday, September 1.
CAO head of communications, Eileen Keleghan has urged applicants to carefully consider any offers received in this round.
"If you have received a lower preference offer in this round, it is important to note that accepting this offer will not prevent you from being considered for a higher preference offer in a later round should a place become available, and you are deemed eligible," Keleghan said.
"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."
Round two offers will be available to view on the CAO website from 2:00p.m on September 7.
The reply date by which round two offers must be accepted is September 9 at 3:00p.m.
Offers are then issued on a weekly basis to fill any remaining places.
