On May 7th, the Central Applications Office (CAO) inaugurated its change-of-mind mechanism, allowing prospective students to adjust or detail their desired courses for the first time. By end of May, applicants should expect an online statement of their application information in the correspondence section of their CAO account. The CAO should be notified urgently if this record fails to arrive or contains inaccuracies.
Written Leaving Certificate examinations commence on June 5th and last till late June. After the completion of the final Leaving Cert paper, those under 23 who undertook the Hpat examination in February are supplied their results. This aids them in incorporating these grades into their ultimate deliberation of study options before the July 1st CAO deadline.
The final opportunity to revise course preferences and order of priority on all CAO applications for enrolment in September 2024 is at 5pm on July 1st. Majority of current year Leaving Cert candidates reach their final course decisions or changes during this “change-of-mind” period annually during May-June.
By July 5th, about 6,000 places are offered by the CAO, particularly to mature (over 23) applicants and those who initially accepted but later deferred their 2023 college offers. These offerings are exclusively online via cao.ie and remain available for roughly a week. Mature and deferred students expected to be away should deal promptly with any early July offers, as they become void if not accepted within the fixed period.
There is a singular closing date on July 22nd (5pm) for enrolled third-level students who aspire to withdraw from their existing college programme and submit a fresh list of course preferences through the CAO (fee of ¤60).
On August 8th, Round 0 offers will be disseminated to applicants for graduate entry medicine, additional mature students, deferred and Access applicants, along with those presenting QQI FET/FETAC qualifications for consideration for courses with a reserved quota for QQI FET applicants.
On 23rd August, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) is scheduled to issue 2024 Leaving Cert results to over 730 secondary schools and make them available through a secure web portal at examinations.ie, starting midday. Following the results release, students can swiftly apply to view their scripts online exclusively via the SEC Student Portal, where individual component scores will also be provided.
By 28th August at 2pm, candidates will receive the first round of offers from the Central Applications Office (CAO) online, with minimum point requirements for course entry accessible on the CAO website.
Post this, those students discontented with their respective grades are permitted to review their graded exam scripts online without any fees charged. Moreover, if students seek to contest their results in one or more Leaving Cert subjects, they can apply online through the SEC Student Portal within the given timeframe.
The cut-off date for accepting the first round offers from CAO is 5th September, with submissions required by 3 pm. Subsequently, on 11th September, the CAO will release round two offers online, publishing minimum entry points for each course on the CAO website on the same day. By September 13th, students should have accepted their second-round offers, with the deadline being 3 pm.
At the earliest opportunity, the SEC will announce appeal results, leading to the CAO’s final offers. The old system of receiving physical letters from the CAO in May regarding applicant details or postal offer notices has been phased out. All communications are now relayed directly to the applicant’s CAO website account at cao.ie.
Students appearing for the Leaving Certificate exams and other postgraduate applications are encouraged to consistently check both the State Examinations Commission (examinations.ie) and CAO.ie platforms for any updates. Be sure to tune in to our Inside Politics podcast for the latest political discussions and insight.