60% of CAO applicants are offered their first choice

Almost 60,000 leaving cert students received offers for college places through the CAO this morning.

The Central Applications Office, which administers college entry on behalf of the universities and colleges, has now issued 87,075 offers to 57,980 applicants – with most students pleased with the news. For Level 8 or degree-level courses, almost 60% of applicants have been offered their first preference for places at a university, college or institute of technology. This is more than the figure from last year. 85% of those two applied received an offer of one of their top three preferences. 90% of students applying for Level 6/7 courses have also been offered a place on their first preference course. This year's figures show that there are considerably fewer courses this year have been obliged to use random selection to allocate places. Random selection is used to select students for a course when too many have achieved the points needed. Applicants are encouraged to check their offers by logging into their account at CAO.ie. Anyone who is successful in their application also had the option of being contacted via email and text message. Head of Communications with the CAO Eileen Keleghan said: "Those who receive 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 any offer they will receive a 'Statement of Application' email. Offers must be accepted by 3pm next Tuesday.

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