EACH WEEKDAY evening, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you should know at 5pm.

1. #CAO: Thousands of students around the country have been accepting third-level courses after the first round of CAO offers were released this morning, though many were dismayed to discover issues with the CAO website. Maths and IT courses saw the biggest jump in points. Here are the main things to know about CAO 2012.

2. #EDUCATION: Meanwhile, new research from Bank of Ireland Life has found that almost half of parents have made no financial provisions for covering the costs of their children’s education. More than two-thirds of parents said they believe they will need to borrow money to finance those costs.

3. #PAROLE: Mark Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon in 1980, is up for parole this week for the seventh time since his conviction for the killing.

4. #CREDIT CARDS: Online newspaper subscriptions, hotels, and bars – just a few of the things which featured on the Department of An Taoiseach’s credit card bills between March 2011 and March 2012.

5. #SOLAR SPHERE: A two-year study into the Sun’s movements has found that our nearest star is rounder (seriously) than previously thought. As we revel in the roundness, check out this NASA footage of solar flares filmed earlier this year:

YouTube credit: NASAexplorer