Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
251. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of persons who did not take up their CEO offer of a university course in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67804/25]
View answerThe Central Applications Office (CAO) is an independent private body, and as such, it is not within the remit of the department or the Minister.
The CAO publishes data on the number of applicants and acceptance of CAO offers on their website as a part of their annual media pack. The table below contains data on the acceptance of offers between 2015 and 2024.
For 2025, the CAO has advised that there were 89,308 applicants as of 1 July 2025. There were 54,032 net acceptances by the end of CAO Round 5, of which 47,634 were at Level 8 and 6,398 were at Level 6/7. 2025 figures may change slightly as the final audit processes are not yet completed.
