A record 52,374 students across Ireland received first round offers of college places from the CAO on Monday.
Nationally, the number of CAO points required for entry into more than half of all honours degree college has dropped. The trend indicates that changes to the Leaving Certificate grading system, and the introduction of a new CAO Common Points Scale may be helping to take some of the heat out of the points race.
The categories in which highest proportions of courses saw points drop include teaching degrees, and there were lower entry requirements this year for over three-quarters of nursing degrees. Despite dips in demand, nearly half of engineering and technology level 8 degrees have higher points, and the small number of architecture and construction degrees have more courses with higher points.
IT Sligo has made more offers in round one this year as it bids to grow the Institute’s student numbers. 3126 students have received an offer of a college place, up from 2917 in 2016. There has been strong interest in IT Sligo’s new programmes in English & Psychology, Sociology & Politics and Writing & Literature.
If you have received a CAO offer for IT Sligo this week, congratulations. Don’t worry if you are unfamiliar with the course or college, there is plenty of help at hand.
Getting to know your new college
You can start by downloading IT Sligo’s new CampusConnect App, which is a great way of connecting with IT Sligo and with other new students to the Institute. It’s free to download and is available for both iOS andandroid devices. Download the new IT Sligo App here.
Important dates & deadlines
Tuesday, August 22nd, at 12pm.
Applications for the CAO’s Available Places open.
Whatever course you accept this week. It will have no effect on your entitlement to accept an offer of a course higher up on your CAO list if it becomes available to you in a later round. The CAO will make you an offer of a place even if it becomes available in mid-October. It will then be up to you to stay with the course you first accepted or to switch to the new course offered.
Monday, August 28th, at 5:15pm
The deadline for acceptance of CAO Round 1 offers If you don’t accept your offer by next Monday, the offer lapses and cannot be retrieved.
Thursday, August 31st
CAO Round 2 offers are made.
Accommodation
When you accept your college offer, the student accommodation hunt will be one of your first challenges as you prepare to make your college move.While the cost of rent is soaring in the larger urban centres such as Dublin, Cork and Galway, Sligo is fortunate to have an abundance of high quality affordable accommodation, much of it within walking distance of the IT Sligo campus.
The Accommodation Service at IT Sligo is located in the Student Services Centre. Phone 0719141887.
If you don’t receive a college place
Don’t panic, there are other options open to you. IT Sligo has a number of Available Places which you can apply for from 12pm on Tuesday, August 22nd. Click here for more info.