Cao Offers Major Effort To Minimise Use Of Random Selection

Leo Migdal

-Dec 12, 2025, 4:40 AM

cao offers major effort to minimise use of random selection

The decision taken by Minister for Education Norma Foley to adjust the grades of this year’s Leaving Cert to keep them in line with those awarded to candidates in recent years has resulted in... Some courses saw lower points requirements, often where additional places have been provided, or where the number of applicants has fallen. In April, the Minister announced that there would be no change from last year with grades to stay at the same level on average, noting the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the learning... This means that, as with 2022 and 2023, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) has implemented a postmarking adjustment to the results to ensure grades in the aggregate remain at the same level as in... The SEC revealed last week that the additional marks added to students’ original marks was 7.5 per cent with the weaker results getting the highest numbers of additional marks. Among students who were disappointed when the CAO made its college offers on Wednesday are those who lost out through random selection.

Their disappointment is keen because they did, literally, make the grade. They got the points they needed but they tied with other students at the cut-off line for the last place or places on the course they had set their heart on. Random selection is not something that only affects those with the highest points. At Dundalk Institute of Technology random selection was used to pick the last students for two mid-ranking courses. DUBLIN, Ireland – August 27, 2025 – A wave of student frustration and anger has swept across Ireland following the release of the 2025 Central Applications Office (CAO) offers, with many high-achieving students being... The CAO system, intended to manage applications for higher education, has come under fire for its perceived inequities, particularly impacting top performers in an environment of exceptionally high demand for college places.

The first round of CAO offers for 2025 saw an unprecedented surge in applications, with universities like University College Dublin (UCD) reporting exceptional demand across numerous popular courses. This increased competition has led to soaring CAO points for many programs, leaving many students who achieved excellent Leaving Certificate results in a precarious position. Data released indicates that over half of applicants received their first-choice offer for Level 8 courses, but this statistic masks the significant number of students who were unsuccessful. The core of the controversy lies in the implementation of random selection for certain courses where the number of eligible applicants exceeded the available places, even after accounting for points. This random element, described by some as “cruel,” has meant that students with top-tier results have missed out on spots, leading to widespread discontent and calls for reform. One affected student expressed their dismay, stating,

“I worked so hard for my results, achieving top marks in all my subjects, only to be rejected from my dream course because of a lottery. It feels like all that effort meant nothing.” Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said there is more accommodation capacity than last year, with over 990 more student beds owned by colleges in addition to 2,000 private accommodation beds. Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has welcomed the “very significant reduction” in the number of courses offered by “cruel” random selection. Last year, 47 courses went to random selection which sees entry to a course determined by a lottery. The number fell significantly to 17 courses this year.

“Random selection can be a particularly cruel and difficult way that you get the max points perhaps required, but you still find yourself not guaranteed a place in the course,” he said. Speaking outside Government Buildings, Mr Harris said we are now seeing a year-on-year increase in the number of students getting their first-place offer. When this year’s Central Applications Office (CAO) offers were released at 2pm on Wednesday, August 28, the debate about random selection in Ireland’s higher education system resurfaced. But what exactly is random selection, and does it truly belong in a fair college admissions system? The CAO system is responsible for undergraduate applications in Ireland, with admission to university courses based largely on points from the Leaving Certificate examinations. Each course has a fixed number of places, which determines the required points.

For example, if a course has 50 places and there are 55 applicants the minimum points requirement is determined by the score of the 50th best applicant; if the 50th applicant achieved 520 points,... However, when multiple students achieve this score — say the 50th and 51st applicants — the CAO employs a random selection process. This means that even students who meet the points requirement might not secure a place if they are not selected in the random draw. Having recently gone through the CAO process myself, the thought of my potentially not having received a place in my course due to a lottery is unsettling. This concern has only grown in recent years; although the process of random selection has been in place in Ireland for many years, it gained more prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic when inflated grades... In 2019, just 200 students accomplished this; now in 2024, that number has soared to around 1,000.

This inflation has led to higher points requirements for many courses. “This surge in applications has led to increased competition for places, particularly in high-demand courses” In recent years, Trinity has seen a record number of applications, with nearly 11,000 students listing it as their first preference in 2024. This surge in applications has led to increased competition for places, particularly in high-demand courses. Six courses in Trinity were subject to random selection in 2024, with Dental Science even applying this method to students who achieved the maximum 625 points. Still, this was an improvement from 2021, when twenty-four courses used random selection, with three — Law and Political Science, Dental Science, and Management Science and Information Systems Studies — involving random selection at...

This decline is certainly positive; nonetheless, it demonstrates that random selection remains a tool for managing demand. Minister for Education Norma Foley announced in April that there will be no change from last year, with grades to stay at the same level Minister for Education Norma Foley announced in April that there will be no change from last year, with grades to stay at the same level Applicants can log on to the My Application section... Photograph: iStock The decision taken by Minister for Education Norma Foley to adjust the grades of this year’s Leaving Cert to keep them in line with those awarded to candidates in recent years has... Some courses saw lower points requirements, often where additional places have been provided, or where the number of applicants has fallen. In April, the Minister announced that there would be no change from last year with grades to stay at the same level on average, noting the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the learning...

This means that, as with 2022 and 2023, the State Examinations Commission has implemented a postmarking adjustment to the results to ensure grades in the aggregate remain at the same level as in 2021,... Given that the grades awarded in 2024 are in line with those awarded in recent years, increases and decreases in CAO points requirements revealed today can only be driven by the additional places announced... Alternative pathways after the Leaving Cert: ‘I wanted to broaden my horizons and knew I didn’t want to stay in Ireland’ The CAO points requirements for medicine across the five universities, where 60 places... In nursing, where efforts are being made to fund additional places, the points requirements ranged from 342 in Castlebar, 343 in Letterkenny and 346 in Sligo to 440 in UCC, 429 in Galway university,... For those seeking a primary teaching place points requirements range from 473 in Marino, 480 in DCU St Pats, 488 in Mary Immaculate in Limerick to 507 in Maynooth. Veterinary medicine, which is only offered in UCD, remains at 589, but with random selection.

Colleges have made a concerted effort to minimise the number of courses where random selection occurs. This occurred in just over 20 programmes this year, including 5 in Trinity, 4 in UCD and three in UCC and St. Angelas in Sligo. Only two programmes requiring a perfect score of 625 have gone to random selection in 2024: Economics and Finance in UCD and Dental Science in Trinity. Four programmes where students secured 613 CAO points feature random selection this year. They are Pharmacy in UCC, Actuarial and Finance in UCD, Engineering and Management Information Systems and Management in Trinity.Overall, the CAO offered 83,369 places to 56,571 applicants.

These consist of 51,934 Level 8 course offers and 31,435 Level 6/7 course offers. A total of 29,173 Level 8 offers are for the applicant’s first preference course, a fall of 3 percentage points on 2023, and 43,280 Level 8 offers are for one of their top three... A total of 28,781 Level 6/7 offers are for the applicant’s first preference course, and 31,087 offers are for one of their top three preferences. Applicants who do not receive an offer may wish to check the CAO’s “available places” facility which is available to new applicants for a €45 fee. It is free to existing applicants.The CAO processes applications for undergraduate courses in Irish higher education institutions . Decisions on admissions to undergraduate courses are made by the HEIs which instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates.

The now Taoiseach Simon Harris provided over 1,000 additional places in 2022 and a further 460 places in 2023. Minister Patrick O’Donovan provided some additional places earlier this month. Obviously, where there are more places available a course’s points should drop, unless demand also increases. Where there has been an expansion of places, as has occurred in disciplines related to the environment in 2022, and the medical/paramedical places in 2023 and 2024, the increase in choice has led to... One factor driving demand for places has been the huge increase in applications numbersfrom students living in EU countries. From a little over 2,000 before Brexit the numbers have ballooned to almost 8,000.

Many of these EU applicants, whose CAO points score is a conversion from their own school examination, received offers in Round One. But, due to the relatively late timing of Ireland’s CAO offers, many of these applicants will have already committed to other colleges and these places will be reoffered to those with lower CAO points... Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources. Norma Foley wins Fianna Fáil selection convention for Kerry constituencyMinister for Education faces down a challenge from two poll-topping councillors Read more » Almost 60 per cent of Leaving Certificate students who applied for a Level 8 course or an honours bachelors degree got an offer for their first choice, the Central Applications Office (CAO) has said. There were 31,251 (59 per cent) Level 8 first preference offers made on Wednesday, compared to 27,947 (54 per cent) last year.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris congratulated students receiving their CAO offers. In Wednesday’s course offerings, 85 per cent of students were offered one of their top three preferred courses, compared to 82 per cent last year. Separately, the department said there has been a “substantial reduction” in the number of high points course using random selection this year. The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union has criticised the use of what it said was the “deeply unfair” random selection process after some students who achieved maximum points lost out on their first preferences of... In all, 51 per cent of third-level applicants received their first choice following the initial round of offers from the Central Applications Office (CAO), with four-fifths being offered one of their top three preferences. However, places on 25 level-eight courses in high demand nationwide were allocated using random selection.

Two of these courses required the maximum 625 points for entry, meaning some top-performing applicants missed out while others got in. These two courses at Trinity College Dublin, which resorted to using the lottery system for six courses, were dental science and its degree in management science and information systems studies. Despite expectations among some in the sector that lowering grade inflation might reduce the use of random selection, there was no change in the number of courses using it. Almost 60 per cent of students received their first preference choice in the Round One offers from the CAO for Level 8 courses. This represents a 5 per cent increase in first preference offers over last year. Around 85 per cent of applicants received an offer from their first three preferences.

In Level 6 and 7 courses, 90 per cent of applicants got their first preferences and 99 per cent were offered one of their top three choices. The news on first preferences was welcomed by the Department of Education and is seen as a success for their initiatives to reduce competition, particularly around medicine education. Points for nursing courses fell in response to the opening of additional places, including some in Northern Ireland funded by the government in Dublin. Speaking on RTE, Provost of Trinity College Dublin Dr Linda Doyle said points have dropped because there are more places available and there are more universities offering courses this year. Dr Doyle said that TCD reduced its use of random selection to offer places to those on equal points. “In Trinity this year, we have only four courses that were using random selection as distinct from nine last year, so it is improving,” she said.

Cao Offers Major Effort To Minimise Use Of Random Selection

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