Deadline approaching to accept Round A CAO offers

The deadline for accepting offers in Round A of the Central Applications Office (CAO) process is approaching fast for applicants.

The CAO has issued offers to 5,800 applicants in Round A.

A total of 4,769 applicants have received a Level 8 offer and 2,241 have received a Level 7/6 offer.

Round A offers concern mainly mature applicants and deferred applicants, but offers are also issued to some applicants who have completed an access course, or those who may be required to make visa arrangements.

The ‘reply date’ by which Round A offers must be accepted is tomorrow, Thursday, July 23, at 3:00pm.

Due to Covid-19, Round One offers for all other applicants will be issued later than usual this year, on September 11.

Drop in interest in agriculture courses

Earlier this month, it was revealed that interest in third-level agricultural courses has dropped this year. There were 447 applicants in 2020 for Level 8 agricultural courses, compared to 471 in 2019. There was also a decrease in first preferences for Level 7/6 agricultural courses.

However, the number of applicants for veterinary courses increased this year.

Offers and acceptance

Speaking about the offer process, CAO communications officer Eileen Keleghan said:

“We urge all mature, deferred and other applicants who may be expecting an offer at this stage to log in to their CAO accounts to check if they have received a Round A offer,” she said.

“Successful applicants have also received an email to the account that they have registered on the CAO system.

“Offers must be accepted by 3:00pm on Thursday, July 23. Failure to accept an offer by the reply date will result in the offer being cancelled.”

How will third-level education differ this year?

Students will have a different college experience to what they had pre-Covid, with third-level institutes putting provisions in place to comply with health and safety guidelines.

For some students, a change in the way their course is delivered has come as both a disappointment and an inconvenience. AgriLand reported earlier this month that students entering their final year of the Bachelor of Science (Agricultural Science) course in the Institute of Technology Tralee were concerned about the prospect of their classes being held online.

However, the college said they are planning for the new semester to be as normal as possible for students commencing or returning to their studies in September.