Why you only ever see one offer

The CAO offers you the highest course on your preference list that your points reach, and nothing below it. That’s why the order of your list matters more than anything else: the system assumes your list is ranked by genuine preference. You will never be offered your 4th choice and your 7th at once; the 4th kills everything below it for that round.

Points for each course are published on offer day. Your points total is the currency here. If you haven’t added yours up yet, the points calculator does it with the best-six rule and maths bonus included.

Rounds 1 to 5: what actually changes

  • Round 1 (Wednesday 26 August 2026, 2pm): the main event. 90,866 offers went to 62,166 applicants this year. The reply date was 1 September, 3pm.
  • Round 2 (Monday 7 September, 2pm): places freed by people who declined or ignored Round 1. In 2026 that meant 3,428 offers to 3,197 applicants (2,507 at Level 8, 921 at Level 7/6), 1,270 of them first-time offers. Cut-offs stay the same or drop. Reply was by Wednesday 9 September, 3pm.
  • Round 3 (Tuesday 15 September, 10am), reply by 17 September, 3pm.
  • Round 4 (Tuesday 22 September, 10am), reply by 24 September, 3pm.
  • Round 5 (Tuesday 29 September, 10am): the final round, and the one where offers triggered by successful appeals land. Reply by Thursday 1 October, 3pm, when the offer season ends.

Each round is smaller than the last. In 2026, Round 2 brought 3,428 offers against 90,866 in Round 1 (in 2025 it was 3,370 against 86,098), so treat Round 2 as a real but slim chance rather than a second results day. Course pages on this site show the Round 1 and Round 2 cut-off for every course, for example Psychology at UCD or Law at UCC, and the full points list has both columns.

Accepting: the rule everyone gets wrong

Accepting an offer never locks you in against a higher preference. If you accept your 5th choice in Round 1 and a place on your 2nd choice opens in Round 2, the CAO offers you the 2nd choice. Accept it and it simply replaces the earlier acceptance. The only thing acceptance blocks is lower preferences, which you didn’t want anyway.

The opposite mistake is worse: not accepting because you’re “waiting for Round 2”. If Round 2 brings nothing, your Round 1 offer is gone. Accept what you have; the system upgrades you automatically if something better appears.

Deferring a place

Want a gap year? Don’t accept the offer online. Instead, email the college’s admissions office immediately (the same day you get the offer if possible), quoting your offer and asking to defer. Most deferrals are granted for one year. Next year you reapply through CAO, put that course first, and the college holds your place.

No offer? Two real routes

  1. Available Places. From 27 August, courses with spare seats are listed openly on cao.ie. Points requirements still apply, but many listed courses sit well below the headline cut-offs.
  2. Appeals. If a grade is upgraded on appeal, and the higher points would have earned you a higher-preference offer, you get that offer once appeal results land on 25 September (in some cases the place is for the following year).

Frequently asked questions

What is CAO Round 2 and when was it in 2026?

Round 2 is the first follow-up round after Round 1, made up of places that Round 1 applicants turned down. In 2026 it was Monday 7 September at 2pm: CAO issued 3,428 offers to 3,197 applicants, 1,270 of them getting an offer for the first time. The reply date was Wednesday 9 September at 3pm. Round 2 cut-offs can only match or fall below Round 1.

Can I get a better offer in Round 2 after accepting Round 1?

Yes. Accepting an offer never blocks a higher preference. If a place opens up on a course higher on your list, the CAO offers it in a later round and, if you accept, it replaces your earlier acceptance automatically.

Can I defer my CAO place?

Usually, yes. Contact the admissions office of the college directly as soon as you receive the offer (before accepting it through CAO) and ask for a deferral. Colleges grant most deferral requests for one year, but it is at their discretion.

What is the Available Places facility?

From the day after Round 1, courses that still have empty seats are listed on cao.ie. Anyone eligible can apply, even if you applied to CAO for the first time that week. It is a genuine second chance, especially in later weeks.

Do points change between rounds?

They can only stay the same or drop. If a course was 450 in Round 1, it cannot rise in Round 2, so missing Round 1 by a handful of points is not always final.

How many rounds of CAO offers are there?

Five main rounds in 2026, plus Round A in July and Round 0 in early August for non-standard applicants. Round 1 was 26 August, Round 2 is 7 September, then Rounds 3, 4 and 5 on 15, 22 and 29 September. The offer season ends on 1 October.

What time do CAO offers come out?

Round 1 and Round 2 offers go live at 2pm. Rounds 3, 4 and 5 go live at 10am. Every round has a reply date two days later at 3pm, and the offer is also sent by email and SMS.