Just over 3,000 students in Galway have received their first round CAO offers this afternoon, with points for many courses reaching a record high due to grade inflation.
A total of 82,175 offers were made to 55,221 CAO applicants nationally, made up of 49,358 Level 8 course offers and 32,817 Level 7 or 6 offers.
Fifty percent of the Level 8 offers are for applicants’ first preference course, and 39,063 (79%) are for one of their top three preferences.
Students must accept their offers by 3pm on Monday, September 13 and second round offers will be then available on the CAO website from 10am on September 20.
Eileen Keleghan, CAO Communications Officer, has asked applicants to carefully consider any offers received in this round.
“One of the common queries that we receive at the offers stage is around order of preference,” she said.
“Applicants who receive a lower preference offer can accept this offer and it will not prevent them from receiving an offer of a course higher up on their courses list in a later round should a place become available and they are deemed eligible.”
Eileen Keleghan said that 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.
Minister Simon Harris reminded students this afternoon that there are many different pathways available as they prepare to take the next steps in life.
“Education is a lifelong journey and there is a huge range of options for you to develop knowledge and skills, and achieve your full potential,” he said.
“PLC courses and apprenticeships are just some of the options available, and I really want to encourage students to take some time to consider the pathway that suits you. Take a minute, breathe and look around.
“There is far more out there for you than you think, and it’s important to remember that there are other ways to achieve your goals – more than 11,000 people got CAO offers this year through alternate entry routes like further education. Look at www.fetchcourses.ie and see what interests you.”
