CAO Offers and Timelines: Round 1 to Deferrals (2026 Guide)

Key Takeaways:

• Round 1 Offers Date: The main body of 2026 CAO Round 1 offers will be issued on Wednesday, August 26th at 2:00 PM.
• Offer Rules: You can be offered one Level 8 course and one Level 6/7 course in a single round. However, you cannot hold two CAO offers simultaneously; accepting one automatically declines the other.
• Order of Preference Matters: If you are offered your 1st preference, all lower choices are permanently deleted from your account. If you are offered your 3rd preference, you may still move up in Round 2, but you can never move down to your 4th or 5th.
• Available Places: If you receive no offers or miss your required points entirely, the CAO “Available Places” facility opens on August 27th, 2026, listing courses that have not filled their quotas.
• Avoid the Panic: Knowing your exact score before the CAO algorithm runs is crucial. Use our free 2026 CAO Points Calculator to figure out your realistic baseline.

The final year of secondary school culminates in a chaotic two-week window in late August. This is the period when the State Examinations Commission (SEC) releases your Leaving Cert results, and days later, the Central Applications Office (CAO) releases your university offers.

If you do not fully understand how the CAO algorithm determines who gets a place, or if you miss a strict 72-hour deadline to click “accept,” you risk losing your seat in a university entirely.

This comprehensive guide breaks down the official 2026 CAO timeline. We will cover the Candidate Self Service Portal, how the Round 1 algorithm actually assigns places, the exact release dates for subsequent offer rounds, and what your options are if you need to accept a lower choice, utilize the Available Places facility, or defer your course for a year.

1. The Candidate Self Service Portal Results Login 2026

Before the CAO can offer you a place, you must receive your raw exam grades. This is done exclusively through the SEC’s Candidate Self Service Portal (CSSP).

While the exact date for the 2026 Leaving Certificate results release is typically announced mid-summer, it traditionally falls in late August, directly preceding the CAO Round 1 offers.

How to Access the Portal:

To log into the Candidate Self Service Portal on results day, you will need two things:

1. Your Examination Number: This is the multi-digit number assigned to you at the beginning of your exams.
2. Your Portal PIN: This is initially the first four digits of your Personal Public Service Number (PPSN).

When the portal goes live (usually at 10:00 AM), the servers experience immense national traffic. Once you access your grades, do not immediately panic if a grade looks lower than expected. Your first step should be to plug those raw grades into an independent tool to see your actual numerical score.

2. How Are Round 1 CAO Offers Determined?

The CAO does not decide whether you are “good enough” for a university course. It is simply a sorting algorithm that matches your points against the university’s supply and demand.

Here is exactly how Round 1 CAO offers are determined:

1. Sorting by Preference: Long before results day, you ranked your courses from Choice 1 to Choice 10. The CAO looks at your list in that exact order.
2. Matching Points: The algorithm checks if your total CAO points meet the minimum cut-off for your 1st preference. If yes, you get the offer. If no, it moves to your 2nd preference, and so on, until it finds a course where your points match or exceed the cut-off.
3. The Cut-Off Effect: Once you are offered a course (e.g., your 3rd preference), all courses ranked below it (4th to 10th) are permanently wiped from your application. You will never be offered a lower preference, because the CAO algorithm assumes you wanted your 3rd choice more than your 4th.

What does random selection mean on the CAO website?

Occasionally, you will see a course requirement listed as “450*”. The asterisk denotes random selection. This happens when the university has, for example, 5 seats left, but 15 students all achieved exactly 450 points. The CAO system acts as an automated lottery, randomly selecting 5 of those students. The remaining 10 students miss out, even though they technically achieved the points.

3. Official 2026 CAO Offers Release Dates

The CAO issues offers in distinct “Rounds” to ensure every empty university seat is eventually filled. Here is the official 2026 timeline you need to track:

Round A and Round Zero (Early Offers)

These rounds happen before the standard Leaving Cert results are published. They are strictly for mature students, deferred applicants, graduate entry medicine candidates, and applicants presenting QQI/FET (PLC) qualifications.

• Round A Offers: July 6, 2026 (Reply deadline: July 9)
• Round 0 Offers: August 6, 2026 (Reply deadline: August 11)

Round 1: The Main Release

This is when the vast majority of current 6th-year students receive their university offers.

• Round 1 Offers Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, from 2:00 PM.
• Round 1 Acceptances Closing Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026, by 3:00 PM.

Round 2 CAO Offers Release Date 2026

If a student rejects their Round 1 offer (or fails to click accept by the deadline), that seat goes back into the pool. Round 2 is used to offer those empty seats to students who narrowly missed the points in Round 1.

• Round 2 Offers Date: Monday, September 7, 2026, from 2:00 PM.
• Round 2 Acceptances Closing Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2026, by 3:00 PM.

Rounds 3, 4, and 5 will continue through late September to mop up any remaining vacancies, but the point movements in these later rounds are usually microscopic.

4. Accepting Your Offer: Strategic Rules

Navigating the acceptance rules can be tricky. Here are the most critical scenarios students face:

Can you accept two CAO offers?

No. The CAO allows you to maintain two separate lists: a Level 8 (Honours Degree) list, and a Level 6/7 (Ordinary Degree/Certificate) list. It is entirely possible to receive an offer from both lists in Round 1. However, you can only accept one offer. Accepting the Level 8 course automatically declines the Level 6/7 course, and vice versa.

How to accept a lower choice on CAO?

You cannot. This is why the CAO emphasizes genuine order of preference. If you are offered your 2nd choice, you cannot reject it and ask for your 5th choice instead. The algorithm has already deleted choices 3 through 10. Your only options are to accept the 2nd choice, or reject it and hope your 1st choice drops in points during Round 2 (which is incredibly risky).

What happens if I miss my Round 1 CAO offer?

If you do not log in and click “Accept” by the strict 3:00 PM deadline (September 1st for Round 1), the offer lapses permanently. The CAO system assumes you do not want to go to university, and the seat is immediately given to someone else in Round 2. You will not get a second chance to accept it.

5. What Are “Available Places” on the CAO Application?

If the CAO points for your desired courses skyrocketed and you received zero offers, you are not entirely locked out of the university system for the year.

The Available Places facility opens on August 27, 2026 (the day after Round 1). This is a public list of university courses that failed to fill their quotas during Round 1.

• How it works: Any student (even those who did not originally apply for that specific course) can log into their CAO account and insert an “Available Place” course at the top of their preference list.
• The Catch: You must still meet the minimum matriculation requirements for the course (e.g., passing Maths), but the previous CAO points cut-off is largely ignored because the university is desperate to fill the empty seats.

6. Deferring a University Place Through the CAO Process

Sometimes, a student receives an offer but realizes they are not ready to attend. Perhaps they cannot find student accommodation, they want to take a gap year, or they suffered a medical emergency.

You are allowed to defer your place for one year, but you must follow a very specific protocol. Do not click “Accept” on the CAO website.

Steps to Deferring a University Place:

1. Ignore the CAO acceptance button.
2. Immediately email the Admissions Office of the specific university that offered you the place.
3. Include your name, CAO number, the exact course code of the offer, and a brief, valid reason why you wish to defer (e.g., financial reasons, taking a gap year).
4. You must send this email at least two days before the CAO acceptance deadline.
5. If the university approves your deferral, they will notify the CAO on your behalf. You will then reapply to the CAO the following year, place that single deferred course as your number one choice, and your seat will be waiting for you.

Plan Your Strategy Before Results Day

When Round 1 offers drop on August 26th, the CAO portal will experience massive traffic, and the 72-hour window to make life-altering decisions moves faster than you think.

The best way to eliminate panic is to know exactly where you stand the moment you receive your raw Leaving Cert results. By understanding your total points, you can instantly predict whether you will secure your 1st preference, or if you need to start preparing for an Available Places strategy.

Don’t calculate your future on a scrap of paper. Verify your points using our algorithm-checked 2026 CAO Points Calculator. It automatically filters your Best 6 subjects and applies all Higher Level Maths bonus rules, giving you the clarity you need to navigate the CAO offer rounds with confidence.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for educational and planning purposes only. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy according to the 2026 SEC and CAO frameworks, CAO Point is an independent platform. Dates and procedures are subject to change by the governing bodies. Always verify your final points, deadlines, and offer rules directly through the official Central Applications Office (cao.ie) and your specific higher education institution.