Every date below is from the CAO's own dates and tips document for 2026. Times matter more than most students realise, so they are given exactly.
One thing to fix in your head straight away. CAO deadlines fall at 5pm, not midnight. Every year people sit down after dinner on the closing date to finish an application that shut four hours earlier.
The dates
| What | When | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Applications open | 5 November | Noon |
| Discounted fee closes, €35 | 20 January | 5pm |
| Normal closing date, €50 | 1 February | 5pm |
| Course choices in to avoid restrictions | 1 February | 5pm |
| Statement of Application Record emailed | May | |
| Change of Mind opens | 5 May | |
| Change of Mind closes | 1 July | 5pm |
| Round A offers | Early July | |
| Round Zero offers | Early August | |
| Round One offers | After Leaving Certificate results |
What each one actually means
20 January, 5pm
The application fee is €35 if you register and pay before this, and €50 after it. That is €15 for doing the same thing a fortnight earlier. Register early even if you have no idea what you want to study, because you can change every course choice for free until July.
1 February, 5pm
The main one. Two separate things have to be done by now, and students routinely do the first and forget the second.
You have to be registered, and your course choices have to be in. An application with no courses on it is still an application, and it still closes at 5pm. If you leave your list empty until March, restricted courses are gone.
Restricted courses
Some courses cannot be added after 1 February at any price. These are the ones with an interview, an audition, a portfolio or a suitability test, and the closing date is early because the assessment has to be organised. Medicine, some art and design courses, some teacher training and mature applications sit here.
If there is any chance you will want one of these, put it on your list before 1 February. You can move it down or take it off later for nothing. You cannot add it back.
Late application, March
Late application opens in March at a higher fee. It gets you into the system, but not into a restricted course. Treat it as a fallback and not a plan.
May, the Statement of Application Record
The CAO emails you a record of what it holds. Read it properly. This is your one clean chance to catch a course code that is not the course you meant, a qualification the CAO has not recorded, or a spelling of your name that does not match your exam entry. Errors are much cheaper to fix in May than in August.
5 May to 1 July, Change of Mind
Free, and you can use it as often as you like. Add courses, remove them, and above all reorder them.
Order matters more than most applicants believe. The CAO works down your list and gives you the highest course you qualify for, and nothing below it. You never get an offer for your fourth choice while your second is still available to you. That means there is no tactical reason to put a course you want less above a course you want more.
Change of Mind closes on 1 July at 5pm, and there is no extension.
What happens if you miss one
| Missed | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| 20 January | €15. Nothing else. |
| 1 February | Late application in March at a higher fee, and no restricted courses at all. |
| Restricted course deadline | That course is out for this cycle. |
| Change of Mind | Your list is frozen as it stood on 1 July at 5pm. |
| Accepting an offer | The place goes to the next applicant. Offer deadlines are short, usually a matter of days. |
Offer rounds
Round A and Round Zero come before the Leaving Certificate results and go to particular groups, including mature applicants, some further education applicants, and applicants whose qualifications are already known. If you are a school leaver waiting on Leaving Cert results, the round that matters to you is Round One.
Round One offers issue after the results come out in August. If you do not get your first choice, later rounds continue through September as places move. There is more on how the rounds work in CAO offers.
Before you close this tab
Put two reminders in your phone now: 1 February at 4pm and 1 July at 4pm. An hour before, not on the hour, because the CAO site is slow on closing day and it is always slow at the worst moment.