Relief for some, agony for other students as CAO offers released
Some students are thrilled to have gotten their first choices in the CAO offers, while others have to wait until the second round offers are released in the coming weeks. File Picture.
Amelia Heffernan, from Carlow, had prepared herself for the worst come the first round of CAO offers today. Having sat her Leaving Cert in 2019, she thought she was in a relatively good position for her chosen course.
However, she started to get nervous on Monday with the talk of grade inflation.
“Worried is an understatement,” she told the .
“I was proper crying my eyes out.”
She’s a member of a WhatsApp group for people who applied to the CAO this year with Leaving Cert results from previous years.
“Everyone started getting offers on Friday, and I just thought ‘I’m not going to get it’.”
However, Amelia did get her first choice, and is now off to study social care in Carlow College, St Patrick’s. While she is happy with her offers, there are others who are not.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think it's fair what happened with the grade inflation and how they treated people from other years. I understand it was a hard fix and for the Leaving Cert students this year, it was hard on them as well," she said.
"Calculated grades were a fix for their problems but now, this group of people are having their own problems.
One disappointed student who spoke to the missed out on the cut-off to his chosen course by a single point this year.
He applied to the CAO using results from 2019, over 530 points. He'd started a course last year but decided it wasn't for him and took a year out while working full-time. He spent a lot of time in the interim considering what he really wanted to study.
"I filled out my CAO based on the assumption that points would be relatively similar to this year," he said.
"They added extra places to the course I wanted but it just wasn't enough."
He will now wait for second-round offers, which are expected to be issued on September 23.
"I had a feeling that I'd be in trouble when I heard about the grade inflation for this year and I suppose I was just a bit unlucky. But I've missed all my preferred courses."
Today represented an important educational milestone. That's according to Clive Byrne, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD).
“While many students will be excited with their first-round offers, it is important to note that others may be disappointed to not receive their first choice college course," Mr Byrne said.
"For those who find themselves in this position, thankfully there are a multitude of routes into further education and I encourage all students and their parents to research and consider these options. Critically, your education and career prospects will not be defined by this outcome.
“This year, as a written exam was not completed in June, students can also avail of the option of sitting an exam paper in their subject of choice in November.
"Between now and then, all Leaving Cert students remain firmly part of their school community, and school leaders, teachers and staff are ready to support these students in any way they can."
Students in need of assistance in the coming days can contact the National Parents' Council Post-Primary helpline on 1800 265 165, he added.
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