ieExplains: How does the CAO's random selection process work?

At the start of the CAO process, each student is allocated a randomly generated number, which only becomes relevant if there is a tie in points. File picture: Pexels

In 2025, entry to 25 Level 8 degree courses nationally was determined by random selection. 

What is it and how does it work?

Admission for the vast amount of college courses is based on exam results and CAO points that are awarded for different Leaving Cert grades.

For example, a H1, 90% or more, attracts 100 points, or 125 in Higher Level maths when bonus points are added.

When offering college places, the CAO then ranks students in order of merit based on these points.

The student with the highest points will be placed at the top of the list, and the others are placed in descending order, according to the CAO.

The higher education institutes then tell the CAO how many places are available, and offers are made accordingly.

However, in cases where students are tied on points and must compete for a limited number of places, random selection is then used.

Lottery system

It's essentially a lottery system.

At the start of the CAO process, each student is allocated a randomly generated number, which only becomes relevant if there is a tie in points.

The student with the highest random number will receive a place first, followed by the next, and so on until all places are allocated. Any remaining students who are tied on points are then placed by the CAO at the top of the waiting list.

The 25 courses determined by random selection this year range in cut-off points from 408 to 625 - the maximum number of CAO points which go to students who receive H1s in every subject, including maths.

For 2025, these courses include medicine at University College Cork, University of Galway, and at the Royal College of Surgeons.

At University of Galway, entry to both general nursing and midwifery was determined this year by random selection. Cut-off points for entry this round were set at 441 for general nursing, and 455 for midwifery.

For a second year in a row, entry to two Bachelor of Education courses at St Angela’s, ATU, was determined by random selection: Home economics and biology, which had cut-off points of 453, and home economics, which had cut-off points this round of 408.

Other Bachelor of Education courses where entry was also determined by lottery include primary education at Marino Institute of Education, TCD, where cut-off points for round one were 473, as well as physical education with maths at DCU, where cut-off points were 499.

Biomedical science, which is offered jointly by the MTU Cork Campus and UCC, also saw its entry determined by lottery in 2025, despite its cut-off points dropping by one point to 555.

Random selection was also used to determine entry to biological sciences at DCU (466), biological and biomedical sciences at TCD (554) and biomedical, health and life sciences at UCD (589).

Entry to pharmacy at University of Galway, RCSI, and Trinity was also determined by random selection. Cut-off points this round were 601, 589, and 601.

This is the first year of the five-year undergraduate course in pharmacy at University of Galway, and 40 places were on offer. The course will expand next year to offer 75 places, which the university said is in response to the need for qualified pharmacists nationally as well as the demand for the career.

Physiotherapy at both TCD and RCSI was also determined by random selection, as was occupational therapy at UCC. Applied psychology at Dun Laoghaire IADT was also determined by random selection, at 378 points.

Entry to both engineering and management science and information systems studies at Trinity College Dublin was also determined by random selection, with the latter being one of two courses in 2025 where students who received perfect marks in their Leaving Cert missed out on a place.