Jess Casey: It goes without saying that the CAO process can be cruel

Despite lower grade inflation, demand for college places pushed CAO points higher in 2025, leaving many students disappointed

Cousins Katie O’Riordan and Sam Allen at Carrigtwohill Community College, Co Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

As they anxiously waited for their Leaving Certificate results, many students were unsure of what this year’s lower grade inflation would mean for their transition to college.

Would a return to pre-pandemic norms be reflected in this year’s CAO points, or would expanding demographics make 2025 another year where entry to multiple courses ‘breached’ the 600-point mark?

Round 1 offers were issued to students on Wednesday, and we now have our answer. 

The incredibly strong demand for college courses this year seems to have offset lower grade inflation as well as the efforts to expand courses.

Although grade inflation is down on average, points at almost half of all Level 8-degree courses increased this year.

Just over 52% of Leaving Certificate grades were boosted upwards by the State Examinations Commission this year, down from 68% in 2024.

However, 89,347 applications were received by the CAO this year, an increase of 7% when compared to 2024.

The number of students who received their first-preference college course fell to 51% this year from 56% last year, while the number securing one of their top three college choices also fell from 83% to 80%.

It goes without saying the CAO process can be cruel, and every year students can, and do, miss out on their dream college courses by as little as one point. 

Cut-off points are determined by supply and demand. Students’ results are sent to the CAO, which checks individually if these meet the minimum entry requirements for each student’s chosen course, or courses.  It then calculates a points score for each course the student is eligible for.

Each student is then placed on a list. Colleges then instruct the CAO to make a certain number of offers for each course, and offers are then issued to students in order of merit and based on their position on the list.

For example, the student with the highest points score will be offered the first place in a course, the second highest will be offered the second place, and so on.

The points score of the last person to receive an offer in that round is the cut-off point for that course.

Some courses this year increased by as little as one point, like it did for veterinary nursing at UCD, up from 499 to 500 in 2025, or by 60, as it did for accounting with finance at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone.

The Level 8 degree course that recorded the highest increase in cut-off CAO points for entry was tourism and event management at South East Technological University (SETU); Up from 281 in 2024 to 473 in 2025, an increase of 192 CAO points.

Other notable increases include government and political science in UCC, up 88 CAO points in 2025 from 323 to 411, as well as physics with energy and environment at Technological University Dublin (TUD), up by 67 points.

There was also very strong demand for nursing courses this year, with entry cut off points increasing at almost two-thirds (64%) of all Level 8 degree courses. 

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Points rose by as much as 61 points, as they did for general nursing at the Adelaide School of Nursing at Trinity College Dublin, or as little as one point, as it did for intellectual disability nursing at SETU.

General nursing and midwifery also remained popular with students, with cut off points for entry this round at many courses increasing by between 10 to 34 points.

Another "cruel" aspect of the CAO system which has come to the fore in recent years is random selection, which sees entry to certain popular courses essentially determined by lottery. 

This year, 25 courses were determined by random selection, compared to 23 last year. 

On Wednesday, the CAO also issued 28,554 Level 7/6 offers for the student’s first choice. 

The majority (99%) of offers of Level 7/6 courses issued this time are for one of applicant’s top three preferences.

Cut-off entry points rose at 42% of these courses. 

Some of the highest increases included electronic engineering at SETU, up 169 points to 443 in 2025, and coaching and sports performance at MTU Kerry campus, up 97 points to 270 in 2025. 

Other popular courses here included culinary arts at TUS, up 42 points in 2025, and applied biosciences at MTU, up 40 points. 

Students have until 3pm on September 2, to accept an offer. 

Round two of the CAO will be issued on September 8, from 2pm.