The Galway-based CAO is currently dealing with some of its busiest days of the year, with Leaving Cert students having until 3pm, September 1st to confirm acceptance of their first CAO offer of a college place for the next academic year.

The Higher Education Minister said his ‘heart goes out’ to students who missed out on third-level courses due to a lottery allocation system.

More than 56,000 applicants were given an offer of a college place on Wednesday.

There were a total of 83,543 applicants to the Central Applications Office this year.