Important items to note before 1st March at 17:00
1. Have you any errors in your course choices or have you forgotten to include a course?- If you have omitted any restricted courses, you now have an opportunity to introduce these courses for a fee of €10 before 1st March at 17:00. For more information on restricted courses, please visit: www.cao.ie/restrictions
- If you are a mature applicant, you must ensure your course choices are correct and complete before 1st March at 17:00. If you have forgotten to include course choices, or if you wish to change the order of your courses, you can do so for a fee of €10 up to 1st March at 17:00
- Log in to your CAO account via `My Application`
- In the course choices section, click on `Change Course Choices` (or `Add Course Choices`) and follow the instructions. There is a €10 charge for this service, and you may use this facility as many times as you like up to 1st March at 17:00. For more information, go to www.cao.ie/com
(Supplementary entry schemes for applicants with disabilities and whose economic or social background are underrepresented in higher education)
If you wish to be considered for these schemes you must complete the appropriate sections of the CAO application form no later than 1st March at 17:00.
- If you wish to apply to DARE, you must click on the Modify Disability (& DARE Application) Status button, complete the Supplementary Information Form and answer `Yes` to Question 1 by 1st March at 17:00.
- If you wish to apply to HEAR, you must complete all relevant sections of the online HEAR Application Form by 1st March at 17:00.
- DARE HEAR supporting documentation must arrive in CAO no later than 10th March at 17:00.
- DARE HEAR Eligibility Carry Forward: DARE applicants who wish to carry forward their DARE eligibility from 2025 to 2026 must complete the Supplementary Information Form - including Question 1(b) - by 1st March at 17:00. HEAR applicants who wish to carry forward their HEAR eligibility from 2025 to 2026 must complete all relevant sections of the HEAR application form - including Section 8 - by 1st March at 17:00.
If you are a mature applicant and you have not yet completed the Mature Applicant Form you can do so up to 1st March at 17:00. Log in to your account via the `My Application` facility and click on `Mature Applicant Form`. More information on the Mature Applicant Form can be found here: www.cao.ie/mature Please note: Mature applicants to Nursing/Midwifery, Primary teaching and Graduate entry programmes are not required to complete Mature Applicant sections unless they are also applying for other courses and wish to be considered on the grounds of mature years for those courses. Mature applicants may be interested in Uversity Higher Education Scholarships for Adult learners - see www.uversity.org - CAO plays no role in the processing of scholarship applications.
Other items to note:
4. Mature applicant for nursing/midwiferyThe Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) set the criteria for entry to nursing and midwifery degree programmes. They require that all mature applicants to nursing and midwifery degree programmes in 2026 must be successful in an assessment test to be eligible to compete. For detailed information regarding the assessment test, visit the NMBI web site here. 5. How do I apply for a grant?
If you intend to apply for a grant (www.susi.ie) you may indicate this on your CAO online application. CAO will then provide your identification and offer/acceptance details to the grant authority (SUSI). Other than providing these details to the grant authority, CAO plays no role in the processing of grant applications. Grant applications should be made on the grant authority website www.susi.ie 6. Where can I find out more information about exemptions and entry requirements?
You should ensure that you will meet the minimum entry requirements of the courses you are applying for. The Higher Education Institution websites and prospectuses have details of these. There may be some concessions, such as exemption from minimum age requirements, Irish language, and other language requirements, etc. For more information on exemptions, please go to www.cao.ie/exemptions EU/EFTA/UK students presenting with qualifications other than the Irish School Leaving Certificate Examination should view the agreed entry requirements criteria for EU/EFTA/UK Applicants here: www.cao.ie/euefta and the information sheet at www.cao.ie/oslinfo 7. What important correspondence should I expect from CAO?
We will send a Statement of Application Record email to all applicants in May. You must follow the instructions in this email (and on the web page www.cao.ie/soar) carefully and modify your application if anything is incorrect or omitted from your CAO account. Throughout the application process, we will contact you with important information and instructions, either by email and/or text. Please regularly check the Correspondence Section of your CAO Account - this section contains a history of all emails sent to the email address registered on your CAO application, and any online queries that you have submitted to CAO whilst logged in to your CAO Account. 8. When can I change my course choices?
The Change of Mind facility for changing course choices opens on 5th May and closes on 1st July at 17:00. This facility is free of charge and may be used as many times as you like to add, remove or change the order of your courses. However, some restrictions apply (e.g., mature applicants and restricted courses - see page 3 of the CAO Handbook). For more information, go to www.cao.ie/com. 9. When will offers issue?
We will provide you with an update on the offer and acceptance schedule when we communicate with you in May.