Record 60,000 get CAO offers

A record 60,000 people have been given a chance to start a third-level course, as the last big round of Central Applications Office (CAO) offers went out this morning.

Though 1,137 of the 3,125 people being offered a place today had no such offer up to now, it still leaves around 18,000 of over 78,000 CAO applicants disappointed.

Many colleges increased capacity to cater for rising demand, but the bulk of places were filled by last week’s first-round offers. The 45,264 third-level spaces now filled are nearly 1,000 more than a year ago.