May Deadline For Late CAO Applications

The closing date for late CAO applications is 1 May 2021 at 5-15pm. No further applications will be accepted for the 2021 academic year after this date.

Students are also required to pay a €60 fee for an online application up to this date.

Check out the CAO Handbook here.

Late CAO Applications

Students making late CAO applications must note that individual Higher Education Institutions may have restrictions on such applications.

For example, some institutions may not consider late applications from certain categories of applicant.

Note: Mature students and students with qualifications that are not taken from EU school-leaving examinations should check the individual institution’s website before making a late application.

Exceptional Closing Date:

The Exceptional Closing Date for CAO applications is 22 July 2021.

This only applies to students registered as an undergraduate student from 1 May 2021. These students can be from any year or any of the Higher Education Institutions.

To qualify under the Exceptional Late Application facility, students must have registered with the HEI through the CAO system.

If you did not register for your current course, using the CAO system, you must contact the Admissions Office of the HEI that you wish to apply to. They will then inform you if you need to submit an application to the institution.

You may also submit this application to courses other than your current course of study. If you wish to repeat the year, you must consult the relevant HEI.

The following HEIs have special procedures in place for students who are interested in studying for a course from the same HEI they are currently studying in.

• Mary Immaculate College Limerick,
• Marino Institute of Education,
• Trinity College Dublin,
• University of Limerick,
• Maynooth University
• Galway Mayo Institute of Technology

More information on this here. 

Covid-19 Update

The CAO Premises are temporarily closed due to Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

All postal correspondence is continuing to be processed as usual.

All applications to undergraduate courses in Irish Higher Educations Institutions (HEIs) are being processed by the Central Applications Office (CAO).  The HEIs make the decisions regarding admissions to undergraduate courses.

The HEIs then instruct the CAO to make offers to the successful candidate.