CAO 2027: Every Key Date Students and Parents Need to Know

Right on schedule, the CAO application facility for 2027 opens on 5 November 2026 at 12:00 noon — along with the facility to add or change course choices. If you have a 5th or 6th year, this is the moment the whole thing officially starts, even though most of the actual decisions won't need to be made for months yet.

I pulled every date below straight from the official CAO 2027 handbook, because I'd rather hand students the real thing than a summary that's gone slightly stale by the time they read it. A few of the later dates are still marked "to be confirmed" by CAO itself — that's normal at this stage, not something to worry about.

The full 2027 timetable

Date	What happens
September 2026	CAO 2027 Interactive Handbook available online at cao.ie
5 November 2026, 12 noon	Online application facility opens; facility to add/change course choices opens
20 January 2027, 5pm	Deadline for the discounted €35 application fee
1 February 2027, 5pm	Normal closing date for applications (€50 fee); free Change of Course Choices facility closes
5 February 2027, 12 noon	Paid facility to amend course choices opens (€10 fee)
March–April 2027	Tests and interviews for restricted courses
1 March 2027, 5pm	Closing date for DARE/HEAR forms, the Mature Applicant section, and amending course choices
5 March 2027, 12 noon	Late application facility opens
10 March 2027, 5pm	Deadline for DARE/HEAR supporting documents to arrive at CAO
1 May 2027, 5pm	Closing date for late applications
5 May 2027, 12 noon (expected)	Free Change of Mind facility opens
End of May 2027	Check and Confirm email sent to all applicants
June 2027	Leaving Certificate examinations; DARE/HEAR eligibility outcomes issued (late June)
1 July 2027, 5pm	Change of Mind closes
Early July 2027	Round A offers (mature, deferral and other non-standard categories)
Early August 2027	Round Zero offers
August 2027	Leaving Cert results issued (date TBC); Round One offers (date TBC); HEIs begin registration
September 2027	Leaving Cert appeal results released (TBC); further offer rounds continue

A few of those dates are worth building your own calendar reminders around, specifically 20 January, 1 February, 1 March, 1 May, and 1 July — those are the five that actually cost you something (money, a missed course choice, or a missed chance to change your mind) if they slip past you.

The two mistakes I see every single year

The first is treating 20 January as the real deadline and then panicking when the form isn't finished. It isn't the deadline — it's the last day for the cheaper fee. You have until 1 February either way, but there's no reason to pay an extra €15 for being disorganised.

The second is forgetting that Change of Mind doesn't open until May. Every year I get a student in January wanting to lock in their "final" list, and every year I tell them the same thing: your January list is a placeholder. Leaving Cert mocks, open days, and a lot of growing up happen between January and May — use the free Change of Mind window properly once it opens, rather than treating your first guess as permanent.

If you're still working out what to put on the form

The dates above tell you when; they don't help with what. If a student genuinely doesn't know what to put in those twenty boxes yet, that's a separate problem worth solving well before the May Change of Mind window, not during it. I use CourseCompass's Course Compass with my own students for exactly this gap — a proper interest and personality-based assessment matched against the real CAO course list, rather than a guess based on what a friend is doing. It's €34.99 on its own, or part of the 5th & 6th Year Bundle at €49.99, which also covers PLC and apprenticeship matching if the CAO route isn't the only one on the table.

I'm building out my own page properly at the moment — find me on Instagram @irishguidance.ie, or email me directly at shellyogorm@gmail.com. I answer everything myself.