Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
617. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of students that did not receive an offer for their CAO level 8 choices in 2020; the number of students that did not receive an offer for their level 8 CAO choices in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25053/20]
View answerThe CAO is a company established by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Therefore application and offer data is held by the CAO, not by my Department.
According to data released by the CAO, 54,870 applicants have so far received an offer for a Level 8 course. The comparative figure at this stage in the process last year (i.e. after Rounds A, Zero and One) was 51,212. This represents a 7% increase in offers despite applicants to Level 8 courses only increasing by 1%, from 70,550 to 71,322.
