From 6am on Monday, 19 August, first round offers will be available online at www.cao.ie. You will also receive a postal offer on that date. Minimum points requirements are also available on the website.

You may receive two offers from the CAO, one from the Level 8 list and one from the Level 6/7 list. You can only accept one. The deadline for acceptance is indicated on the offer notice and is usually one week later than the date of the initial offer. Acceptance can be made online or by returning the appropriate section of the offer notice to the CAO.

If you subsequently become eligible for a higher offer, this will be offered to you irrespective of whether you accepted or declined a course. However, it would be very unwise to refuse an initial offer in the hope that you will receive a higher one at a later stage. The CAO will confirm receipt of your acceptance by post within three working days after the reply date for that round.

Round two offers are available on www.cao.ie from 6am on Thursday, 29 August and will arrive by post the same day. The deadline for acceptance is Wednesday, 4 September at 5.15pm Offers will be issued until October to fill any vacancies.

VACANT PLACES

Each year the CAO publishes a list of courses with vacant or available places. This can be found online at www.cao.ie from noon on 20 August. Consult the CAO handbook to check your eligibility for the course. If it is in the Restricted Category, you may need to consult the admissions officer of the institute concerned.

If you have applied to the CAO already, you may apply for a vacant place free of charge. You can do this online or by completing the appropriate paper documentation from the CAO. If you have not applied to the CAO, you may make an Available Place/Vacant Place application online at a cost of €40DEFERRED ENTRY

If you are offered a course but wish to defer your acceptance for a year, you must seek the agreement of the college that has granted you a place. The deferral procedure requires the following steps to be followed:

1 Do not accept the offer.

2 Write or send an email immediately to the admissions officer of the college, explaining your reasons for the deferral. Quote your 2013 CAO number and course code of the offer you wish to defer and mark deferred entry clearly on the envelope or the subject line of your email.

3 The letter or email must arrive in the admissions office of the college at least two days before the acceptance date deadline. Do not contact the CAO.

4 The college will contact you with its decision. If the deferral is not granted, you may accept the offer for the current year.

5 If your deferral is accepted you must reapply through the CAO the following year, pay the fee, and place the deferred course as the only preference on the form. Failure to do this could result in you losing your place.