What have we actually learned from five decades of the CAO?

The CAO 'change of mind' opened on Tuesday — part of a set schedule by which parents and teenagers have marked the anxious year of the Leaving Cert for five decades

In situations where admission to a course can hinge on a handful of points, the system can encourage strategic subject choice and exam-focused learning rather than broader intellectual exploration. Picture: iStock

This year marks a significant anniversary of the creation of the Central Applications Office (CAO), the system through which applications are processed for undergraduate courses in Irish education. 

Introduced in 1976, the CAO was established to simplify the application and admissions process by allowing students to apply for a number of courses through a singular application.