This Wednesday, the first round CAO offers will let those who received their Leaving Cert results last week know whether they have been selected for the course they would like to begin in their next level of education.

Ahead of this, Midwest Radio conducted a survey with students across the region to see how they approached their CAO applications and the steps they have taken in choosing what to do next in their careers.

Students were asked how many course choices they put down on their CAO application, with the most common being five courses, followed closely by either three or ten.

We asked students what influenced their choice of what they would like to do or where they would like to go if they were looking at further education.

51% of students chose their next step based on the course they had in mind, with 30% going off the location of the course.

Since the Atlantic Technological University has brought university status to the North West in Mayo, Sligo and Donegal, 59% of students surveyed said that they have considered further education closer to home as more of an option.

A staggering 71% of students said the student accommodation crisis had an influence on their choice of location for further education.

Finally, we asked students what their plans are as of this moment.

81% said they would like to go into third level or further education which was no doubt the front runner.

6% of students said they are looking to go into an apprenticeship, while level on 4% are those who are looking to take a year out, go straight into the working world and those who don’t know what their next step will be.

If you’re one of those waiting on your CAO offers you can participate in our survey by heading to https://qeo1djxsv.supersurvey.com