Uproar Over Cao Random Selection Offers An Opportunity To Address

Leo Migdal

-Dec 12, 2025, 4:31 AM

uproar over cao random selection offers an opportunity to address

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. 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. 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. 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.” 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.” I’m excited to share that my article ‘Uproar over CAO random selection offers an opportunity to address systemic issues’, has been published in the first physical issue of Trinity News!

In the piece, I explore how the controversy around random selection in the CAO process highlights deeper, systemic issues in Ireland’s higher education system. It is clear that as long as the CAO system remains unreformed, random selection will remain as a stopgap. I suggest that reforms should begin by encouraging more people to pursue apprenticeships and increasing accommodation availability for students. For those interested, a snapshot of the article can be found below! 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. Thousands of secondary school students have received their college offers, following the first round of CAO points being released on Monday. While some of the first round courses decreased following the ‘points inflation’ due to the pandemic, some courses have seen a huge surge in points required — meaning that those who scored the top... 27 Level 8 (Honours degrees) courses were subject to random selection — meaning that some applicants with the same points that applied for the same course will be offered on a random basis.

Courses where there were random selections included medicine, pharmacology and physiotherapy. Approximately 56% of people applying for Level 8 courses got their first choice, while 83% of the applicants got offered to one of their top three choices.

Uproar Over Cao Random Selection Offers An Opportunity To Address

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