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Cao Offers Almost Half Of Students Miss Out On First Choice As Course

Leo Migdal
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cao offers almost half of students miss out on first choice as course

Some students will miss out on their top choice of college course this year, despite receiving the maximum grades available. Picture: Stanley Morales/Pexels Points are up in almost half of all degree courses as almost 50% of students have missed out on their first choice of degree course following the first round of CAO offers. Data released by the CAO on Wednesday shows that entry to 25 courses has been determined by random selection. Some students will miss out on their top choice of college course this year, despite receiving the maximum grades available. Entry to two college courses with cut-off points of 625 has been determined by random selection, which sees a lottery used to allocate places.

To listen to RTÉ.ie's radio and podcast services, you will need to disable any ad blocking extensions or whitelist this site. The CAO first round offers are out this afternoon with points up in almost half of all degree courses. Some students will miss out on their top choice of college course this year, despite receiving the maximum grades available. For some advice Sarah is joined by Kay Lynch a Guidance Counsellor with the Dublin Academy of Education. © RTÉ 2025. RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media.

RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Nearly 57,000 anxious students received an offer of a college place from the CAO this afternoon. These consist of 51,934 Level 8 offers and 31,435 Level 6/7 offers, with many applicants receiving offers at both levels. Some 56 per cent of Level 8 offers are for the applicant's first preference course, while 83 per cent of Level 8 offers are for a course in the applicant's top three preferences. READ MORE: Loving father of young Dublin woman who died in US kayaking accident sets world record for charity READ MORE: Guard of Honour at funeral of 'true hero' who drowned in Cork trying to rescue children

Nicole Rohan, 625 points, and Sinead Ahern, 625 points, after receiving their 2025 Leaving Certificate results at Christ King Girls Secondary School, South Douglas Road, Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan While a high percentage of CAO applicants get offered their first choice on their course list, this isn’t the case for everyone. Some students work hard to prepare for the exams, but life circumstances can get in the way, or they may have lost out in the random selection process for a course with limited places. Guidance Counsellor Claire Murphy of the IGC says that when CAO offers come out first, the first reaction she sees is usually shock. “When the offers come out, students are shocked when they get what they wanted, and also when they don’t get what they wanted,” she says.

“From my experience, every year many students are disappointed that they don’t get their first choice. Many students feel very disillusioned and disappointed because although they put the work in, they feel that all their efforts and hard work are not reflected in their points. Many feel that life may not work out the way they had planned or wanted as a result of not getting their first or second choice.” To listen to RTÉ.ie's radio and podcast services, you will need to disable any ad blocking extensions or whitelist this site. The CAO first round offers are out this afternoon with points up in almost half of all degree courses. Some students will miss out on their top choice of college course this year, despite receiving the maximum grades available.

For some advice Sarah is joined by Kay Lynch a Guidance Counsellor with the Dublin Academy of Education. © RTÉ 2025. RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media. RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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