CAO and lottery system

[DannyBoyD]

In conversation with a colleague recently they mentioned their child was interested in a field of study which is generally over subscribed & results in a lottery system to allocate places.

I said this & then suggested it would be worth having a back up plan / alternate route in the event they weren't successful in the lottery.

I was told there'd be no problem at all as their relative was Head of XY Department at ABC University, and it wasn't what you know its who you know.

Whilst I understand this is frequently the case in Irish culture, I was pretty shocked at the inference that the CAO system was open to influence.

I wonder if this is really the case or was this just pub talk?

 

[Annieindublin]

I thought the lottery was by CAO not the colleges?

 

[Dr Strangelove]

Whilst I understand this is frequently the case in Irish culture,

Compared to countries where the vast majority of humans live, Ireland is not that corrupt.

I was pretty shocked at the inference that the CAO system was open to influence.

I wonder if this is really the case or was this just pub talk?

Sound like the latter. As I understood it the CAO is just a sorting algorithm and HEIs are just given a list of who’s been admitted.

Although I remember a guy (late 90s) who did a bad Leaving Cert and got no CAO preferences. He directly applied to an IT in late August and it found a place for him.

But this was a low-points course.

 

[Peanuts20]

Without knowing the details of the course in question it is hard to say but in principle, CAO only do a lottery where it is either a max points course or where on the final round there might be 4 people on the same points total and 3 places. CAO give a simple example here

Central Applications Office

The Central Applications Office (CAO) processes applications for undergraduate courses in Irish Higher Education Institutions.

www.cao.ie

It's possible, where it is an arts or music course and a portfolio has to be provided, that some bias could occur