Career Guidance Donegal Independent CAO course-matching
Career Guidance Donegal
The CAO Course Match Test

Stop guessing your CAO list. Match it to who you actually are.

A psychometric assessment built for Irish Leaving Cert students — interests, aptitudes, values, personality, learning style and emotional intelligence, matched against real CAO course codes nationwide. Delivered as a full report to your email in minutes.

Start the test — €34.99 See a sample report first
A parent and their teenager looking through course results together
Built by CourseCompass · an Irish company (CRO 810847) working directly with schools · featured on Live 95 · used by students and parents across Donegal and nationwide
Why this, and not just a course search

Most students don't have too little information. They have too much of the wrong kind.

CAO.ie lists thousands of courses, but a course list only helps once you already know roughly what you're looking for. The CAO Course Match Test works the other way round: it profiles how you think, what motivates you and where your genuine strengths lie, then scores that profile against real CAO course codes — including ones you might never have thought to search for.

It doesn't replace your own research, and it isn't a personality quiz for entertainment. It's a structured starting point that turns "I have no idea what to put on my CAO form" into a ranked shortlist you can actually compare, discuss with a guidance counsellor, and act on.

How it works

Three steps, about 20 minutes, one report

1

Answer honestly

A structured assessment covering interests, aptitudes, core values, personality traits, learning style and emotional intelligence — about 15–20 minutes, no right or wrong answers.

2

Get matched

Your profile is scored against real CAO course codes nationwide — Level 6, 7 and 8 — ranked by fit rather than by popularity or points alone.

3

Receive your report

A full Career Assessment Report lands in your inbox: your profile breakdown, plus your top course matches with CAO codes, match percentages and the reasoning behind each one.

See it before you buy it

Here's the kind of match you'll get back

1. Business Studies (illustrative sample)

University of Limerick · CAO LM050 · Business · NFQ 8
95% match

“Your #1 match — Business Studies at UL is an exceptional fit for your enterprising personality, strong logical reasoning, and passion for business.”

That's one course, from one full illustrative sample report. See the complete sample results page for the full profile breakdown and all five matched courses, including career pathways and salary bands.

Who's behind this

A real Irish company, not an anonymous website

Career Guidance Donegal is run by CourseCompass Education Limited (CRO 810847), an Irish company that works directly with schools and students on CAO decision-making — not a faceless test generator.

The CourseCompass team visiting the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick
Meeting with UL's Kemmy Business School to talk through how course-matching supports CAO decisions.
A CourseCompass team member at Live 95 radio studios in Limerick
On air with Live 95, Limerick's local radio station, talking through the CAO Course Match Test.
A real printed CourseCompass Career Assessment Report and course recommendations
A real printed Career Assessment Report and course recommendations, the same structure shown in the sample on this site.
What students and parents say

Real reviews, published with permission

These are genuine testimonials from CourseCompass users — see the full reviews page for more.

“I went into the test without really knowing what I wanted to do. The results gave me a few different options and, more importantly, made me think about what I actually enjoy and what I could see myself doing. It definitely made researching my CAO choices easier.”

L
Luke
Student

“I honestly wasn't sure what I wanted to do after the Leaving Cert, so I gave CourseCompass a go. The recommendations were actually a lot more specific than I expected and gave me a few courses I hadn't really considered before. It was useful having everything explained rather than just getting a list of courses.”

J
Jake
Student

“I found the test really easy to get through and it didn't feel like I was just answering the same question over and over. What I liked most was seeing why certain courses were recommended for me. It gave me a much better starting point for researching my CAO choices.”

M
Mark
Student
CAO Course Match Test

Get a shortlist built from how you think, not a guess based on your favourite subject.

A psychometric course-match assessment covering interests, aptitudes and work style, matched against real CAO course codes nationwide.

€34.99 one-time, no subscription
  • A personalised course-match report sent to your email
  • Coverage across CAO Level 6, 7 and 8 courses nationwide
  • Built for Irish Leaving Cert students, in plain language
Secure checkout. You'll be redirected to complete payment, then get instant access.
Questions people actually ask

Before you take it

What exactly do I get for €34.99?
A full personalised Career Assessment Report sent to your email: your Holland Code interest profile, your aptitude scores, your core values, a personality snapshot, your learning style and emotional intelligence, and a ranked shortlist of real CAO courses — each with a match percentage, the CAO code, the NFQ level, and a plain-English explanation of why it fits. You can see the exact structure on the sample results page.
How long does the test take?
Most students finish in 15–20 minutes. It's a single sitting, answered honestly rather than strategically — there's no pass or fail, so there's nothing to prepare for in advance.
Is this only useful for Donegal students, or does it work nationally?
The assessment itself covers CAO courses nationwide, so it works the same whether you're applying from Donegal, Dublin, Cork or anywhere else. This site adds local context on top, but the course-matching engine underneath is the same one used across every CourseCompass county site.
Does this replace my guidance counsellor?
No — think of it as preparation, not a substitute. A good guidance counsellor knows your subjects, your predicted grades and your school's own track record with certain courses. Walking into that conversation with a structured course-match report already in hand tends to make it a far more useful meeting than starting from a blank CAO handbook.
When should I do this before the CAO deadlines?
The CAO's own timetable is the one that matters: the normal on-time application closing date is 1 February each year, and Change of Mind closes on 1 July. Doing the test before your first application in January or February means your list starts in the right place; doing it again before 1 July gives you a real basis for any Change of Mind edits. (Source: cao.ie, timetable of events)
Is my data kept private?
Your report is generated for the email address you provide and is not shared with third parties or used for anything beyond delivering your results and, where relevant, basic service communication.