Do not accept the offer you want to defer. Contact the college instead. Deferral is a request to the institution that offered the place, not a button that guarantees a gap year. The college decides whether to grant it. CAO Handbook 2027, printed page 32.
Request the deferral before the reply deadline
Email the college's Admissions Office immediately. Include:
- Your name as it appears on the CAO application.
- Your CAO application number.
- The course code for the offer you want to defer.
- Your reasons.
- DEFERRED ENTRY in the subject line.
The request must arrive at least two days before the reply date on the offer. Read the college's own deferral policy too; it may have additional conditions. Send deferral correspondence to that college, not CAO. Handbook, printed page 32.
If the college says yes or no
If approved, save the written decision and follow every condition in it. The permission relates to that particular course. Do not assume it transfers to another course or institution.
If refused, you may still accept for the current year, provided you do so by the offer's reply deadline. If a reply has not arrived, contact Admissions promptly; silence is not approval and does not extend the acceptance window. Handbook, printed page 32.
Take up the place next year
An approved deferral does not mean you can skip the next CAO application:
- Reapply in the succeeding year, complete the form and pay the application fee.
- Put the deferred course as your first and only preference.
- Tick the Deferred Applicant indicator in Course Choices.
- Supply information and documents again unless the college instructs otherwise.
- Follow the deferral letter and the new year's deadlines.
The handbook strongly recommends applying by 1 February at 5pm. Check with the college before applying later. Adding other course codes breaches the guaranteed-place conditions and returns you to ordinary competition. Handbook, printed page 32.
A gap year is not always a deferral
If you never received and deferred an offer, next year's application is an ordinary new CAO application. Keeping a copy of an old shortlist does not reserve a place.
If you also qualified for HEAR or DARE, read the separate eligibility carry-forward rules. Eligibility carry-forward and an approved course deferral are different processes. Handbook, printed pages 6, 21, 23 and 32.
What if an appeal improves my results?
A Leaving Certificate grade change can alter your position on the order-of-merit list. If the revised results entitle you to an offer but the course is full, the handbook provides for a deferred offer for the following academic year. The college decides on the place. This is different from voluntarily requesting a gap-year deferral. Handbook, printed page 32.
Use the appeals calculator to explore a points change, not to predict an offer. Exact 2027 appeals dates are not yet confirmed in the handbook checked here.
Sources and verification
Checked 7 September 2026 against CAO Handbook 2027, principally printed page 32. The next application year depends on when you defer: someone deferring a 2027 offer would normally reapply for 2028, using that year's instructions.