Minister O'Donovan congratulates students on receiving their CAO offers
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From: Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
- Published on: 28 August 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan TD has congratulated students receiving their CAO offers today.
More than 56,000 applicants received an offer today.
Minister O’Donovan also welcomed the news that the number of students receiving their first preference has remained at broadly similar levels to last year.
Well over half (56%) of offers made for Level 8 courses were for first preferences courses, and 83% were offered one of their top three preferences.
Speaking today, Minister O'Donovan said:
“I want to congratulate the Leaving Cert class of 2024 and others who have been patiently waiting to log onto the CAO portal to see if they have received an offer for the course they are hoping for.
“It is an exciting time for those applicants, but I am aware that for others, they may not have received the news they were hoping for.
“I want to reassure those students that it is not the end of the world, there are many different pathways available to help them to reach the career they want.
“These pathways include apprenticeships, where they can earn while they learn, courses in FET colleges, and of course the tertiary degree courses outside of the CAO points race.”
More than 83,000 applications were made to the Central Admissions Office, 47,000 of which were from the Leaving Cert class of 2024.
The remaining applications were from other groups including mature applicants, those who received a qualification from a Further Education (FET) college, people with a previous attendance at a Higher Education Institution and people with other school leaving exams.
There was also an increase in the number of students who applied through the HEAR (Higher Education Access Route) and DARE (Disability Access Route to Education) schemes.
Those who have received an offer today have until September 3rd to accept their place.
Round two offers will be sent out to all qualified applicants on September 9th.