THE CENTRAL APPLICATIONS Office (CAO) is reminding people that the application deadline for undergraduate courses in Irish higher education institutions is 5.15pm this evening. 

People who have not yet completed their applications are being urged by CAO to do so immediately, particularly mature applicants, applicants for the Hear or Dare schemes, or those who are thinking of applying for a restricted course. 

CAO communications officer Eileen Keleghan is asking potential applicants who have no yet started their application to carefully read the CAO handbook and to go to the CAO website to apply. 

“It is important that applicants start their application well in advance of the final deadline in order to avoid any issues which may arise if they leave their application to the last minute,” Keleghan said. 

“We appreciate that the completion of a CAO application can be quite a stressful time for applicants, but the most important step at this stage is to register on the system and obtain your CAO application number to help you avoid any restrictions,” she said. 

“This first step in the application process is very straight-forward,” she added. 

• Applications need to provide their identification and contact details, and select the qualifications and assessments sections that are relevant to them. 
• On completing their section, and paying the application fee of €45, applicants will then receive their CAO application number. 
• From there, they can log into their CAO account via the My Application facility to edit their application, provide additional information required to support their application and to add their course choices. 

“Every year a number of applicants put off making their application until the last couple of hours and even minutes without thinking about the consequences of their browser timing out, their internet connection failing, or encountering payment issues,” Keleghan said. 

“In order to be fair to all applicants, strict deadlines apply and applicants should submit their application in a timely manner.” 

Late applications

Applicants who do not process their application in advance of the deadline can make a late application at an increased fee of €60 online or €90 for a paper application. 

This facility opens in March and closes at 5.15pm on 1 May. Some restrictions apply to this. 

Applicants who have already made a CAO application have up to 5.15pm today to add, remove or reorder courses free of charge. 

If an applicant is considering applying for a restricted course they should make sure to include the course details in their application before this deadline. 

If they do not apply for a restricted course before the deadline an additional fee of €10 applies for the use of the change of course choices facility which is available to registered applicants online from 5 February to 1 March at 5.15pm. 

The CAO change of mind facility opens on 5 May. This facility allows applicants the opportunity to add, remove or change the order of their courses as many times as they like right up to 1 July at 5.15pm. This facility is free of charge. 

However, the CAO is reminding applicants that it is important to note that some restrictions will apply.