The Minister for Higher Education has expressed sympathy for students who were unable to secure third-level places due to the use of a lottery selection process, reports Breaking News.
This followed the release of 86,098 round-one offers by the Central Applications Office (CAO) to 59,201 applicants after the completion of the Leaving Certificate.
Of these offers, 54,256 were for Level 8 programmes, while 31,842 related to Level 6 and 7 courses, reports Breaking News.
Candidates receive offers for courses in line with how they performed in their Leaving Certificate exams.
However, when a course reaches capacity and several applicants hold identical points, the remaining places are distributed randomly among that group.
As a result, one student may miss out on their preferred course despite having the same score as another student who is selected, reports Breaking News.
This process is not uncommon, and this year’s initial round of offers saw a lottery applied to more than 20 different courses, covering a variety of fields such as pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, nursing, midwifery, and education.
Among these were two courses that required the maximum 625 points in 2025: management science and information systems studies and dental science – both offered at Trinity College Dublin, reports Breaking News.
Speaking on Wednesday, Minister James Lawless defended the lottery as “the least worst way to do it at the moment”.
“Ultimately, the courses that may be decided (by) random selection are less than 2 per cent of the entire, course load across the spectrum. So, while my heart goes out to a student in that situation that might have worked so hard and ultimately have their choice is determined by random selection, it is a very small cohort,” reports Breaking News.
When asked whether he thought the current system was fair, Mr Lawless replied: “Absolutely I think it is fair. It may not be desirable, it may not be what we would want to have but, in terms of fairness, it is arbitrary. It is mathematical. What would be unfair would be some kind of human intervention to nudge one student above another,” reports Breaking News.
He added that some students who missed out may still end up on a different but suitable path into their intended career or course.
On the question of potential reform, Mr Lawless noted that this issue isn’t new and said: “The reason that the solution hasn’t provided itself before now is because the solution we have right now is the best currently available,” reports Breaking News.
He also referenced a Programme for Government pledge to revamp the CAO system to better support young people navigating higher education.
Just over half of all Level 8 applicants received their first-choice offer, while 80 per cent secured one of their top three preferences, reports Breaking News.
In comparison, 90 per cent of Level 6/7 applicants were offered their first-choice course, with 99 per cent receiving a place among their top three selections.
Applicants must accept their offers by 3pm on Tuesday.
Round two offers will be accessible on the CAO website from 2pm on September 8th, reports Breaking News.
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