Unsuccessful CAO applicants reminded that 'there are many options'

The Central Applications Office (CAO) has today (Wednesday, September 23) issued 2,955 offers to applicants in Round Two of the offers process.

A total of 1,923 Level 8 offers and 1,032 Level 7/6 offers were made to 2,630 CAO applicants in this round.

1,098 applicants have received an offer for the first time. Applicants receiving an offer in this round will have until Friday, September 25, at 12:00pm to accept their offer.

CAO communications officer, Eileen Keleghan, advises applicants to carefully consider their options and to be mindful of this Friday’s reply date.

“Many of the applicants receiving a second round offer today may have already accepted an offer in Round One, and it is important that they take the time to decide between these courses and inform the CAO before the reply date if they wish to accept the new offer.

Accepting the new offer will automatically cancel a previous acceptance.

“If this is an applicant’s first offer they can choose to accept this offer and this will not prevent them from receiving a higher preference course in a later offer round if they are deemed eligible.

“It is important to note, however, that the majority of offers have been issued at this stage and this may be the only offer that they will receive.”

For those who have been unsuccessful in receiving an offer or their desired offer, the CAO wishes to remind applicants that there are many options, including: further education courses which offer qualifications in their own right as well as opportunities to progress to third-level; apprenticeship schemes; taking a year out and reapplying through CAO next year; sitting one or more of the Leaving Cert exams in November; or repeating the Leaving Cert.

Unrest in third-level institutes

Amid the delayed start to the academic year for many third-level institutes in the country, there has been unrest in some colleges over various issues that have resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The vice president of the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) students’ union, Róisín Nic Lochlainn, has criticised advice that was given to students by the college.

In a statement on Twitter, she said:

“Students were told by NUIG to get accommodation for this year. They were also promised 30% on campus time.

Now that they have paid their first instalments for student residences, they are finding out they have [zero] hours on campus and are being refused refunds.

Other colleges have experienced the cancellation of courses.

IT Tralee was forced to drop its Level 7 Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Mechanisation course due to a shortage of prospective students.

The institute withdrew the course from consideration two days before the first round of CAO offers were issued, prompting disappointment from parents of interested students.

In a statement to AgriLand, IT Tralee explained that the numbers seeking to do the course were just not viable:

In total, nine students were eligible to receive an offer for a place on this programme. IT Tralee [ITT] reviewed the individual applications and also consulted with the applicants to determine, if based on their current situation, they still wished to pursue this programme.

“Based on this analysis and consultation, ITT estimates that five, maximum six, students would have pursued the programme at the ITT.”

Stay tuned to AgriLand for a summary of Round Two points for agricultural courses.