As the Leaving Cert exams draw closer, many students are turning their thoughts towards life after secondary school. One important step in that journey is making sure your CAO application reflects your most up-to-date choices. The CAO Change of Mind facility opens on May the 6th at noon and here’s what you need to know.
The CAO Change of Mind facility allows applicants to add, remove, or reorder course choices on their CAO application. Whether your interests have shifted, you’ve discovered new courses, or you've simply re-evaluated your preferences, this is your chance to make those updates—free of charge. You can make changes as many times as you want up to the 1st of July at 5 pm, which is the final deadline. No changes can be made after this deadline, so it’s vital to make your final decisions in time.

How to use the Change of Mind Facility

To make changes, log into your account at www.cao.ie using your CAO number, date of birth and the password you created. Go to the ‘Change Level 8 Course Choices’ and/or ‘Change Level 7/6 Course Choices and make your changes. You can add, remove, or re-order courses on both the Level 8 (Honours Degree) and Level 6/7 (Ordinary Degree/Higher Certificate) lists. Some restrictions do apply. If you have not added any courses up to now, the prompt will say ‘Add course choices’. Double-check that your choices are in genuine ORDER OF PREFERENCE—the course you most want should be at number one. Click ‘Continue with course changes’ and then submit. You’ll receive an email confirming your updated choices—make sure you check for this.

Some Important Reminders

• Be Strategic. Don’t list courses based on points from last year. Put down what you want in ORDER OF PREFERENCE. The system will offer you the highest preference for which you meet the points and minimum requirements.
• Research is Key: The devil is in the detail! Use www.careersportal.ie, www.qualifax.ie and college websites to get accurate, up-to-date info. Look carefully at the content of the course, and pay attention to each module. My rule of thumb is that you need to really like 75% of the content to enjoy and flourish in the course. Another key point is to ensure you are choosing courses that suit how you learn best! Check out when and how assessments take place throughout the course.
• Restricted Courses: These are courses that had a portfolio, audition or other assessment earlier in the year. You cannot add these now unless you had them on your original application before February 1st.

Complete it sooner rather than later.

There are several reasons why it is sensible to make your changes sooner rather than later. It can be part of human nature to leave things until the last minute, especially when you have something as huge as the Leaving Cert to prepare for, but I recommend that you make your decisions about course choices in early May if possible. Firstly, because you are in school you have still access to your guidance counsellor to chat about your course choices. Secondly, May is busy and can be stressful and emotional as you manage study, revision and finishing up in secondary school. Thirdly, it is reassuring going into the Leaving Cert with your decisions about course choices made, knowing that you still have time to make changes after the exams. Finally, the Leaving Cert is a tiring experience so by the end of it you may find you want to tune out of all things school-related, including CAO and may end up making rushed decisions at the last minute, particularly if an exam or two haven’t gone according to plan.

The CAO Change of Mind facility is a valuable tool, use it wisely. Be honest with yourself, stay informed, and don’t leave it until the last minute. Once the July 1st deadline passes, your choices are locked in. You want to make sure the final course choices on your CAO application are the correct choices for you!

Niamh Dwyer is a Guidance Counsellor in Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Rathmore and a member of Kerry Branch of IGC. Follow @mycareerplan on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.