Half of all applicants received their first choice, with that figure climbing to 90% for level 6 and 7 applicants.
There has been a significant rise in the points required for a majority of courses in 2021 as CAO offers were released on Tuesday.
Leaving Cert students and other CAO (Central Applications Office) applicants throughout the country have received their offers this afternoon as more than 82,000 offers were issued to over 55,000 applicants.
As well as a rise in points, the figures released by the CAO show that half of all applicants received their first-choice course, down 2% on 2020, with that figure climbing to 90% for level 6 and level 7 applicants.
Nearly 80% of Level 8 applicants received an offer for one of their top three course choices.
Meanwhile, more than 11,000 people received CAO offers this year through alternate entry routes such as further education.
Applicants can check to see if they have received an offer by logging into their account using the ‘my application’ facility at CAO.ie and all offers must be accepted by 3pm on Monday, 13 September.
Record number of college offers issued this year. 96,492 offers so far through this year’s CAO process compared to 91,424 last year. That’s more than 5000 extra college offers. Sincere congratulations to every student receiving an offer today
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) September 7, 2021
Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris congratulated the students receiving their first-round CAO offers, saying that this has been “an incredibly challenging year for students”.
“I’m glad to say that more than 4,600 additional places have been created in higher education for them,” he said on Tuesday.
“PLC courses and apprenticeships are just some of the options available, and I really want to encourage students to take some time to consider the pathway that suits you.
“Take a minute, breathe and look around. There is far more out there for you than you think, and it’s important to remember that there are other ways to achieve your goals.”
He encouraged students to look into alternate entry routes and browse www.fetchcourses.ie to see what interests them.
The Leaving Certificate candidate helpline has been operating since 3 September and is staffed by qualified guidance counsellors. The helpline can be contacted on 1800 265 165.
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