How to Apply to the CAO as a Home-Educated Student in Ireland

The Central Applications Office processes applications from over 80,000 students each year. Its online system is designed for school leavers whose results arrive automatically from the State Examinations Commission. For home-educated students presenting alternative qualifications — A-Levels, IB, QQI Level 5, or Leaving Certificate external candidate results — the process requires additional manual steps that the standard system does not walk you through.

Here is how the CAO application process works, with specific attention to the steps that differ for home-educated applicants.

Creating a CAO Account

Applications are submitted at cao.ie through the online application system. The system opens in early November each year for the following autumn entry cycle.

When you create a CAO account, you receive a CAO account number — your unique reference for all correspondence with the CAO. Write it down and keep it in a safe place. Every piece of documentation you post to the CAO should have this number written clearly on it. Every phone call or email to the CAO should start with your CAO account number.

The account creation process requires a valid email address, and all CAO correspondence will be sent to that address. Use an email address you check regularly — missed deadlines are the most common cause of avoidable application failures.

Application Fees and Payment

The CAO application fee is charged at three rates depending on when you apply:

• €35: Early online application, paid by January 20th
• €50: Normal application deadline, paid by February 1st (5:00 PM)
• €65: Late application, paid by May 1st (5:00 PM) — note that the late application period has restrictions

Payment can be made by credit or debit card through the CAO online system, or by bank transfer using the CAO's banking details (published on the CAO website). Postal order payment is also accepted. The CAO's banking details are straightforward to find on the cao.ie website — do not pay to any other account.

For most home-educated students, the February 1st deadline is the relevant target. If your child's qualification results will be available before August (e.g., June A-Level results), there is no advantage to filing late. For mature student applications and restricted courses, February 1st is an absolute deadline — late applications for these categories are not accepted.

Using the Course Finder

The CAO course finder at cao.ie lists every undergraduate course available through the CAO system, with filtering options by field of study, institution, level (Level 6, 7, or 8), and course type (full-time/part-time). Each course has a course code and a points history showing minimum points required in previous years.

Home-educated students should use the course finder to:

1. Identify target courses and note their course codes for the application
2. Check historical minimum points against their expected qualification score
3. Identify whether a course is a restricted application course (see below)

The course finder does not show real-time points or predicted minimums — it is a historical record updated after each offer round. Use it alongside the Points Portal to see trend data across multiple years.

Restricted Courses: The February 1st Hard Deadline

Some CAO courses are designated as restricted application courses. For these, the February 1st (5:00 PM) deadline is absolute — late applications in May are not accepted. Restricted courses include:

• Medicine (all universities)
• Dentistry
• Veterinary Medicine
• Art, Drama, and Music performance programmes (including NCAD, IADT, many Conservatoire programmes)
• Some Nursing and Midwifery programmes
• Some Social Work programmes

If your child is applying to any restricted course, the application must be complete by February 1st, and any additional requirements (HPAT registration for Medicine, portfolio submissions for art colleges) must also be actioned by their respective deadlines.

HPAT-Ireland — the admissions test required for undergraduate Medicine at all Irish universities — is a separate registration process at hpat.ie. The HPAT registration deadline typically falls in November or December, before the CAO deadline. Missing the HPAT registration means missing the Medicine entry route for that year entirely, regardless of CAO application status.

Indicating Your Qualification Type

The CAO application asks applicants to indicate which examination they are sitting or have sat. For school-based Leaving Cert students, this is automatic — their SEC examination number links directly to the CAO. For home-educated students presenting alternative qualifications, the process differs:

External Leaving Certificate candidates: Register with the SEC's CSSP, receive your examination number, and link it to your CAO application in the same way a school-based candidate does.

A-Level applicants: Indicate "GCE A-Level" as your qualification type. The CAO will not receive results automatically — you must submit certified copies of your A-Level and GCSE certificates through the CAO's document submission process.

IB Diploma applicants: Indicate "International Baccalaureate." Same certified document submission requirement applies.

QQI Level 5 applicants: Indicate "QQI FET." The CAO coordinates with QQI to receive results for applicants who have completed their Level 5 award through an ETB or recognised provider. For online QQI providers, confirm the result transmission process with your provider before relying on it.

Submitting Supporting Documents

For any qualification other than the standard Leaving Certificate, the CAO requires certified photocopies of original certificates. "Certified" means each copy must be stamped and signed by an acceptable authority — a Garda station, notary, solicitor, school (if any), or other recognised authority — confirming it is a true copy of the original.

Practical requirements:

• Each certificate needs its own individually certified copy — one cover stamp on a stack of copies is not sufficient
• Write your CAO account number on each document
• Keep the original certificates — do not send them; the CAO will not return originals
• Submit documents before the relevant qualification deadline; this is typically June–July for A-Level applicants who receive June results, but check the CAO's specific dates

Universities may subsequently request to see original certificates at registration — this is normal. Keep originals accessible through the summer.

The Change of Mind Deadline

July 1st (5:00 PM): The last date to change the order of course preferences on the CAO application free of charge. This is often underused.

After June results (A-Levels typically arrive in late June; Leaving Cert results arrive in mid-August), the student knows approximately what points they have generated. The Change of Mind window allows reordering course preferences to reflect actual performance rather than predicted performance. A student who performed better than expected can move higher-demand courses up the list; one who performed below expectations can add more accessible options.

The Change of Mind is free. There is no penalty for using it. Use it.

When CAO Offers Come Out

Round 1 CAO offers are issued in late August, typically on a Tuesday, a few days after the Leaving Certificate results are released in mid-August. The specific time and date vary year-on-year — the CAO publishes the exact offer date and time on its website in advance.

For A-Level applicants whose results are available in June, Round 1 offers are still issued in August alongside the Leaving Cert cohort. The CAO combines all applicants' results and processes offers in a single round.

Round 2 offers typically follow a week after Round 1, for courses with remaining places. Additional rounds may occur in September and October. The process is cumulative — an offer not accepted in Round 1 may be replaced by a better offer in Round 2 if the applicant was further up the list on a higher-preference course.

Offers are accepted online through the CAO system by the specified acceptance deadline for each round (typically within a few days of the offer date).

One Logistical Note for Home Educators

The CAO system defaults to school-based assumptions throughout its interface. Some prompts — particularly around Leaving Certificate subject and level declaration — may appear confusing or non-applicable for A-Level or QQI applicants. If any section of the online application is unclear, the CAO's applicant support line is helpful and specifically experienced with non-standard applications. Contact them during the application period rather than making a best-guess entry that may cause processing issues later.

The Ireland University Admissions Framework includes a step-by-step CAO application walkthrough adapted specifically for home-educated students — covering the qualification type selection, document certification requirements, the HPAT registration timeline, and a calendar of all critical deadlines from November to August.

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