All first-year applicants must apply for entry through the Central Applications Office online at www.cao.ie. When making your application, it is very important to list your courses in genuine order of preference.

Important CAO Dates

Students should apply through the CAO system. A list of CAO application deadlines are as follows:

CAO Deadline	Date
CAO Normal Closing Date: This applies to Irish, EU and non-EU students. Whether you are applying through the CAO by post or online, DkIT strongly urges you to get your application to CAO well before the deadline to avoid stress and possible disappointment. DARE and HEAR applicants must also have applied to CAO as well as all Mature Applicants.	01 February
Late Applications: Late Applications are those which are received in the CAO after 1st February. The latest date for receipt in the CAO of such application forms is 1st May. Late applicants are required to pay an additional fee.	01 May
Change of Mind (Some restrictions apply): The CAO system allows changes to be made to applications up to 5.15 pm 1st July. A Restricted Application Course cannot be added to your CAO application after 1st February. You may however alter your preference ranking for such courses.	01 July, 5.15 pm

* Dates are subject to change.

Full CAO Timetable of Events

For the most up-to-date list of all CAO dates please visit the CAO website.

Entry Requirements

You will find information relating to the standard minimum entry requirements for each course within the course descriptions. If you do not meet these, you cannot be offered a place at DkIT, even if your points are higher than the minimum.
Entry points required for each course are dependent on demand. If you meet the minimum entry requirements for a course your results will be converted into points.
In the case of the Leaving Certificate and GCE’s you may combine results from more than one sitting for the purposes of entry requirements only.

How CAO Offers are Issued — An Example

The applicant’s leaving Certificate results are released to CAO.
CAO checks if the applicant meets the minimum entry requirements for each of their chosen courses.
CAO calculates a points score for all of the courses that the applicant is eligible for.
The applicant is placed on a list for each of their eligible courses. Their position on the list is determined by their points score relative to the other eligible applicants for that course. The list is commonly referred to as the ‘Order of Merit list’.
The colleges instruct CAO to make X number of offers for each course.
The offers are issued to applicants based on their position on the list. The applicant with the highest points score will be offered the first place, the second highest will be offered the second place, and so on until all places have been offered.
The points score of the last person to receive an offer in that round is the cut-off point for that course, i.e. the points that are published for that course for that round.
The applicant will receive an offer of the course highest up on their preference list that they are deemed eligible for. If they are eligible for an offer on their 2nd preference course they will not receive an offer for any lower preference courses.