‘How do I help my child with the CAO application process?’

Question My son is sitting the Leaving Cert next June and his school has advised us that the CAO application process will open this week. As a first-time parent, I’ve no idea how to help ensure he completes the application process properly. Can you offer any advice? Answer You are correct: the Central Applications Office (CAO), which processes college offers for undergraduate courses in Irish higher education institutions, opens to applicants on November 5th. If I have one piece of advice for parents, it is to ensure your child reads the 2027 online CAO Handbook carefully. It will give them the best chance of successfully navigating their way through the process. The CAO Handbook is available only online, at cao. ie. After reading the handbook instructions, your son should log on to cao. ie from November 5th and simply click on “apply”. He will be asked to provide his personal details, which will take less than five minutes. [ My daughter has been offered a deferred place, but at what cost? Opens in new window ] He will immediately be issued with his unique CAO number. He will then log in and enter details of his qualifications – for your son that means indicating he is doing the Leaving Cert in 2027. Applicants from previous Leaving Cert years must enter their appropriate Leaving Cert examination number and year. Those with other qualifications such as Further Education or Post Leaving Cert (PLC) awards must provide your PPSN in the box provided. Your son may return to the CAO site over the coming months and list his initial preferred courses. In most cases, there is no great urgency in finalising course choices until after the end of the Leaving Cert exams in late June 2027, as the final date to amend his course choices is 5pm on July 1st. However, it is important to identify any courses marked as “restricted”. They normally involve programmes with a portfolio or performance element – such as some art courses – which are assessed in March/April each year. The initial closing date for these courses is February 1st. [ ‘Could my son lose a college offer if CAO details are incorrect?’Opens in new window ] There are also important deadlines for access schemes. They provide a pathway to courses with reduced points for applicants with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Further information on deadlines for applications and correspondence to the Dare (Disability Access Route to Education) and Hear (Higher Education Access Route) programmes is available online.