Thousands of students across the country are receiving their offers for third-level education courses today.

The Round One offers are available from 2pm online, and will also be issued to candidates by email and text message.

There have been big changes this year to the schedule around the release of Leaving Cert results and CAO offers.

In a change from tradition, there were no postal offers this year.

If an applicant has been deemed ineligible for an offer, they should have received a ‘statement of application’. If this happened, they should carefully check all the details of their application ensuring that the CAO have all the correct and relevant information.

The amount of time an applicant has to accept their offer has also been extended to over a week – Round 1 offers should be accepted by 5pm on Friday, August 23.

There is no rush. Applicants can take their time to consider an offer before deciding whether to accept it.

Many applicants will receive two offers, one from their Level 8 list and one from their Level 7/6 list. Applicants must now make the decision as to which one of these courses, if any, to accept.

For many, this will be an easy decision but some applicants may need time, especially if they are disappointed with the offer.

In order to accept an offer, applicants should log into their CAO account and follow the instructions. If they have decided not to accept an offer there is no need to notify the CAO — the offer will be passed on to another applicant in the next round if no action is taken before Friday’s deadline.

Hopefully, students will be happy with their offer and feel that all the hard work they have done has paid off.

Most students will be looking forward to the next step in their education and life. A common reaction to a disappointing offer is to hit the accept button immediately without properly thinking through other routes and options.

If an applicant finds themselves in this situation it can be very helpful to do some research and seek advice from a guidance counsellor.

They can do this by calling the National Parents Council- post primary (NPCpp) Helpline on 1800 265 165 or contacting their school guidance counsellor.

Independent.ie is also running a live blog with our education and career experts until 7pm this evening – you can see it here.

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