Nobody loses a college place because they were not clever enough. They lose it because a form closed at five o'clock on a Sunday in February, or because an offer expired at three o'clock on a Tuesday in September while they were away. The Irish system is unusually generous with second chances — a free change of mind window, late applications, six offer rounds — but every one of those chances has a printed cut-off, and no one chases you. This is the sequence, in order, with the traps marked. And because a college year has costs that land long before any grant decision does, plenty of students keep a viewing app such as I am Beezy running in the background while the paperwork moves.
Why does one afternoon in February decide the whole year?
Applications to Irish higher education go through one body, the Central Applications Office, and it runs on a fixed annual clock. The 2026 cycle opened at midday on 5 November 2025 and its normal closing date was 1 February at 17:00. The next cycle follows the same shape: CAO's own timetable states that the application facility opens on 5 November 2026 for 2027 applications.
The discount that rewards applying early
CAO charges less to those who move first. Its timetable is explicit: apply online by 17:00 on 20 January to avail of the discounted application fee of €35. After that date the fee rises before the normal closing date on 1 February. There is no advantage whatsoever in waiting, and the discount is the only part of the process that pays you to be early.
The hour, not just the day
Read the times, because CAO mixes them deliberately. Facilities open at 12:00 and close at 17:00. A deadline listed as 1 February (17:00) is not the end of that day — it is the middle of a Sunday afternoon, and the site does not stay open because you were nearly finished.
| Date | What happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 5 November | Application facility opens for the following year | 12:00 |
| 20 January | Last day for the discounted €35 online fee | 17:00 |
| 1 February | Normal closing date for applications | 17:00 |
| 5 February | Facility to amend course choices opens, €10 fee | 12:00 |
| 1 March | Amending choices, mature section and HEAR/DARE forms close | 17:00 |
| 5 March | Late application facility opens | 12:00 |
| 1 May | Closing date for late applications | 17:00 |
Source: Central Applications Office, Timetable of Events, consulted 12 August 2026. CAO prints its own warning above the table — these dates may be amended — so confirm them on cao.ie before you rely on any of them.
What can still be changed after you have applied?
Almost everything, and that is the part first-time applicants never believe. The order of your course choices is not a commitment made in January; it is a working document until the summer.
The free window that runs from May to July
The online Change of Mind facility becomes available at 12:00 on 5 May and closes at 17:00 on 1 July, and CAO's timetable marks it free. Inside that window you can reorder, add and remove course choices without paying anything. This is where most applicants should do their real thinking, once they have seen mock results and visited a campus, rather than in the pressure of January.
The paid amendment window, and why it exists
Between the February closing date and 1 March there is a separate facility to amend course choices, carrying a €10 fee, which opens at 12:00 on 5 February. It exists for corrections rather than for changes of heart. If your reason can wait until 5 May, wait, and keep your €10.
Access routes have their own, earlier clock
HEAR and DARE, the access routes for applicants from certain socio-economic backgrounds and for applicants with disabilities, close for online form completion at 17:00 on 1 March, with supporting documentation due by 17:00 on 10 March. Mature applicants complete their section by the same 1 March deadline. These dates are earlier and stricter than the main ones, and they are the deadlines most often discovered a week too late.
The money calendar runs on a different clock
Fees and grants have nothing to do with CAO, are handled by other bodies, and open and close on their own dates. Treat them as a parallel track from the start.
SUSI, and why the PPS number comes first
Student Universal Support Ireland is the national awarding authority for further and higher education grants, covering post-leaving certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and in some cases students studying outside Ireland. Its online application system for the 2026/27 academic year is open, and creating the portal account requires a Personal Public Service Number, a date of birth and contact details before you can begin. SUSI's own advice is to apply as early as possible after the opening date, because incorrect details on dates of birth and PPS numbers are what delays assessment. Closing dates are published by SUSI itself — check susi.ie rather than relying on what a classmate remembers from last year.
The back-to-school payment for younger children
Families still in second level have a separate date set. The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance pays €160 per child aged 2 to 11 and €285 per child aged 12 to 22, with age assessed on 30 September and a household weekly income limit of €726.70 for one child, rising by €78 for each additional child beyond the fourth. In 2026 payment was made automatically in the week of 13 July to families already identified; those not notified before 9 June had to apply on MyWelfare.ie, and applications close on 30 September 2026.
What the school year itself does around you
The Irish school year has one standardised element and one that is not. Christmas, February and Easter breaks are set by circular: schools close on 22 December 2026 and reopen on 6 January 2027, the autumn mid-term runs from 26 to 30 October 2026, and February 2027 brings a break from the 15th to the 19th. The start of the year is not standardised at all — the departmental circular says only that it will normally commence during the week in which the 1st of September falls, and explicitly allows the previous week. Anyone booking travel around a fixed 1 September is guessing.
Results, offers and the days you have to act
August and September are where the calendar stops being administrative and starts being decisive, because offers expire.
From results to Round 1
Leaving Certificate results for the current year issue on 21 August. Round 1 offers follow at 14:00 on 26 August, available online and also sent by email and SMS; applicants with no offer receive a Statement of Application by email instead. The Available Place facility, for courses with remaining capacity, opens on 27 August. Acceptances for Round 1 close at 15:00 on 1 September.
The five rounds after that
Offers do not stop at Round 1, and each round has an acceptance deadline three or four days later. Every acceptance deadline in the CAO calendar falls at 15:00, which means an offer received on a Tuesday afternoon can lapse before the end of the week. Offer season ends on 1 October.
| Round | Offers issued | Acceptances close |
|---|---|---|
| Round A (certain non-standard categories) | 6 July, 10:00 | 9 July, 15:00 |
| Round 0 (certain non-standard categories) | 6 August, 10:00 | 11 August, 15:00 |
| Round 1 | 26 August, 14:00 | 1 September, 15:00 |
| Round 2 | 7 September, 14:00 | 9 September, 15:00 |
| Round 3 | 15 September, 10:00 | 17 September, 15:00 |
| Round 4 | 22 September, 10:00 | 24 September, 15:00 |
| Round 5 | 29 September, 10:00 | 1 October, 15:00 |
Earlier rounds most applicants never hear about
Two offer rounds run before results are even published, for certain non-standard categories of applicant: Round A in early July and Round 0 in early August, both notified by email and SMS. If you are a mature applicant or applying through a further education route, these are your dates, and they arrive while everyone else is still waiting.
If nothing arrives in Round 1
An empty Round 1 is not the end of the process, and the calendar is built on that assumption. Applicants who receive no offer get a Statement of Application by email instead, and the Available Place facility opens the following day for courses that still have capacity — a separate list you have to go and look at, because no offer will be pushed to you from it. Four more rounds follow at roughly weekly intervals through September, each with its own acceptance deadline, and places released by applicants who accepted elsewhere feed into them. The practical consequence is that you should keep watching until offer season ends on 1 October rather than concluding anything in the last week of August, and you should keep your contact details current with CAO for the whole of that period, since offers travel by email and SMS as well as appearing online.
Covering the gaps in the calendar with I am Beezy
The awkward part of this timetable is that money leaves before it arrives. Deposits, accommodation and equipment land in August and September; grant decisions and payments follow their own schedule.
How it fits around a college week
The mechanism takes one sentence to describe: you view content — videos, articles, advertising — and I am Beezy credits the time, paying out to the payment method you already use. Expect €5 to €15 a day, in euro, which across the weeks between an offer and a first grant payment is the difference between borrowing and not borrowing.
Where it should sit in the plan
Treat it as a bridge, not a budget. It works because it fits around lectures and travel and asks nothing in advance; it does not replace a grant, a part-time job or a considered decision about which course you accept.
The five entries to put in your phone today
Reading a calendar changes nothing. Setting it does.
Set them with a warning, not on the day
Put 20 January, 1 February, 1 March, 1 July and the acceptance date of any offer you receive into your phone with a reminder three days earlier. The three days are the point: a deadline alert on the morning of a 17:00 cut-off leaves you no time to find a document you do not have.
Check the source, not the summary
CAO warns on its own timetable that dates may be amended, so verify anything critical on cao.ie, grant dates on susi.ie and allowance dates on MyWelfare.ie rather than on a screenshot that has been shared around a group chat since last year. And if you want a small, steady stream running through the whole of that calendar rather than a lump that arrives late, I am Beezy takes a few minutes to set up and pays into the account you already use.
