CAO Available Places 2026: How It Works

The CAO Available Places facility is a public list of courses that still have vacancies after Round 1 offers, and it opens on 27 August 2026 — the day after Round 1. Anyone can apply through it via their CAO account, including people who never applied to the CAO this year, and you’re not bound by the preference order of your original application. For many students it’s the fastest legitimate route to a college place in the weeks after results.

What exactly is Available Places?

Available Places is the CAO’s mechanism for filling courses that didn’t fill in the normal offer rounds. After Round 1 offers issue, some courses have more places than accepted applicants — perhaps demand was lower than expected, or accepted students went elsewhere. Rather than leave those seats empty, the CAO publishes them in a searchable list on cao.ie, and applications are invited from anyone who meets the entry requirements.

Two features make it unusually flexible:

• It ignores your original preference order. The normal rule — that you can only receive offers for courses at or above your current acceptance — doesn’t restrict Available Places. You can apply for any listed course, even one you never included.
• It’s open to everyone. Existing CAO applicants use their account directly; people who never applied this year can make a late application specifically to use the facility.

When does it open and how long does it run?

The facility opens on 27 August 2026 and continues while vacancies remain, with the list updated as places fill and occasionally as new vacancies appear. There’s no fixed closing date for the facility as a whole — individual courses come off the list when they fill — which is exactly why speed matters. Meanwhile, the ordinary offer rounds continue roughly weekly, so Available Places runs alongside them rather than replacing them.

Who can apply through Available Places?

Anyone — current applicants, applicants who received no offer, applicants who accepted an offer but spotted something better on the list, and people with no CAO application at all this year. That last group makes a late application through cao.ie in order to access the facility. In every case you must meet the course’s minimum entry requirements: specific subject grades (commonly in Maths, Irish or English) and any required subjects. Points matter less here — a listed course has places — but requirements are non-negotiable, so verify them on qualifax.ie before you apply.

How do I apply through my CAO account?

You apply directly through your CAO account: log in at cao.ie, open the Available Places section, find the course, and submit your application for it. The steps in practice:

1. Browse the list on cao.ie from 27 August — it’s organised by institution and course code.
2. Check the entry requirements for any course that interests you, using qualifax.ie and the college’s own site.
3. Log into your CAO account (or make a late application first if you’re not an applicant) and apply for the course through the Available Places facility.
4. Watch your account — if the college can offer you a place, the offer appears there, with its reply deadline shown on the offer notice.

If you accept an Available Places offer, it supersedes your existing position — it replaces any earlier acceptance you’d made. So be certain you prefer it to whatever you’re currently holding.

What’s the smart strategy for Available Places?

Move fast, but only on courses you’ve genuinely researched — those two instincts have to work together. Some practical guidance:

Do	Don’t
Check the list early on 27 August and again over the following days	Assume a course listed today will still be there next week
Verify minimum entry requirements before applying	Apply for a course whose subject requirements you don’t meet
Read the full course content on qualifax.ie and the college site	Accept a place purely because it’s available
Consider location, costs and accommodation realistically	Commit to a campus you can’t practically get to
Keep your existing acceptance until a better offer actually arrives	Decline what you hold on the hope of an Available Places offer

The biggest trap is panic-accepting a course you’d never have chosen calmly. A place on the wrong course can cost a year; an extra evening of research costs nothing. Citizens Information has useful plain-language material on choosing courses and student supports if finances are part of the decision.

I never applied to the CAO — can I really still get a place this September?

Yes, through a late application combined with Available Places. This route suits people whose plans changed over the summer — a deferred job offer, a change of heart about a gap year, results that came in better than expected. Make the late application through cao.ie, then apply for listed courses exactly as existing applicants do. You’ll need to meet the entry requirements and supply your exam details, so have your Leaving Cert (or other qualification) information ready.

How does Available Places fit with the later offer rounds?

Treat them as parallel tracks and stay active on both. Your original higher preferences remain live in the ordinary rounds, which continue roughly weekly while places remain — points sometimes drop as places free up. At the same time, Available Places may hold a course you’d actually prefer to anything left on your list. Hold your best current acceptance, keep checking your CAO account, and only let an Available Places acceptance supersede it when you’re sure. Whatever happens, decisions made carefully in the last week of August tend to look a lot better in October than decisions made in a rush.