CAO Round 1 Offers 2026: How to Accept, Decline or Wait

CAO Round 1 offers for 2026 are released on Wednesday 26 August 2026 at 2pm, five days after Leaving Cert results come out on Friday 21 August at 10am. You view your offer by logging into your account on cao.ie, and you must reply by the deadline shown on the offer notice — typically about a week. Crucially, accepting an offer never blocks you from a higher-preference offer in a later round, so the safest move is almost always to accept what you’re offered.

When and where will I see my Round 1 offer?

Your Round 1 offer appears in your CAO account at 2pm on Wednesday 26 August 2026. Log in at cao.ie using your application number and password — this is the definitive record of your offer, so don’t rely solely on email or text notifications, which can be delayed. Leaving Cert results themselves are released a few days earlier, on Friday 21 August 2026 at 10am, through the SEC Candidate Self-Service Portal, so you’ll have the weekend to work out your points before offers land.

If you’re offered nothing in Round 1, don’t panic: further offer rounds follow roughly weekly while places remain, and the Available Places facility opens on 27 August 2026 listing courses that still have vacancies. See Citizens Information for a plain-English overview of how the offer rounds work.

How do I read my offer — and why didn’t I get my first choice?

The CAO offers you the highest course on your list that you meet the points and entry requirements for, and nothing below it becomes relevant once that happens. Your offer notice states the course code and title, and whether it comes from your Level 8 list, your Level 7/6 list, or both — you can receive one offer from each list in the same round, and you may accept only one.

A few things to check carefully:

• Which preference is it? If it’s your first preference, the decision is usually easy. If it’s your fourth choice, remember that everything you ranked above it is still live for later rounds; everything below it is now gone.
• Two offers? If you get both a Level 8 and a Level 7/6 offer, compare them properly on qualifax.ie, the national learners’ database, before choosing.
• Conditions. Some offers carry conditions (for example, passing a required subject) — the notice will say so.

How do I accept a CAO offer?

You accept online through your CAO account by selecting the offer and confirming your acceptance before the reply deadline. The process takes a couple of minutes, and you’ll receive an acknowledgement — keep it. The reply deadline is printed on the offer notice itself and displayed in your account; it is typically about a week after offers issue, but always go by the date on your own notice rather than a general figure.

Miss the deadline and the offer lapses. There’s no grace period you should count on, so set a reminder the day offers come out.

Should I accept now or wait for a later round?

Accept the offer — waiting gains you nothing and risks everything. This is the single most misunderstood part of the CAO system, so it’s worth being blunt about it:

Worry	Reality
”If I accept my 5th choice, I can’t get my 2nd choice later.”	False. Accepting a lower offer does not remove you from later rounds for higher preferences.
”I’d have to withdraw my acceptance first.”	No. If you receive and accept a higher-preference offer in a later round, it automatically cancels the earlier acceptance.
”Waiting keeps my options open.”	Waiting only risks losing the offer you have. Your higher preferences stay live either way.

Further rounds follow roughly weekly while places remain, and points can drop in later rounds as accepted places are declined or deferred elsewhere. So the sensible strategy is: accept the best offer you receive in each round, and let the system upgrade you if a higher preference comes through.

What does declining or ignoring an offer mean?

Declining an offer — or simply not replying by the deadline — releases that place, and you should only do it if you’re certain you don’t want the course under any circumstances. You’d still be considered for higher preferences in later rounds, but the declined course is no longer guaranteed to come back to you. If you’re even slightly unsure, accept: acceptance costs you nothing in terms of later upgrades.

One important exception: if you want to defer the place to next year, do not accept online. Instead, contact the college’s admissions office directly and promptly — the deferral rules are explained on cao.ie and in our separate guide to deferring your CAO place.

What if I’m appealing my Leaving Cert results?

Accept your current offer and let the appeal run — an upgrade on appeal is notified to the CAO and can trigger an improved offer later, including after the college term has started. You lose nothing by starting the course you were offered in the meantime; if the appeal succeeds and a higher-preference offer follows, accepting it cancels your earlier acceptance. Details of the appeals process are on the SEC website, and Citizens Information explains how appeals interact with CAO offers.

Quick checklist for offer day

• Log into cao.ie at 2pm on Wednesday 26 August 2026.
• Note the exact reply deadline printed on your offer notice.
• Accept the best offer you receive — it keeps all higher preferences live.
• Thinking of deferring? Don’t accept online; contact the college admissions office instead.
• No offer? Check the Available Places facility from 27 August and read up on your other options.