However, now is not the time to be making rash decisions about changing course choices. The closing date for the change of mind facility is 5.15pm on Saturday, 1 July, a full week after the last exam on Friday, 23 June.

Brian Mooney, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, emphasises that the one thing stressed students should not do this week is change their mind about a course because they feel an exam did not go well.

"If you do a bad exam and think 'I better drop that course because I'll never get the points', you are wrong, " he says. "Don't ever do that. You have no way of knowing how it's going to be marked."

However, if somebody has applied to a course with, for example, a minimum entry requirement of higher-level maths and drops down to ordinary-level maths on the day of the exam, it would be in their best interest to remove that course from their list. If they do not have the minimum entry requirements, no matter how many points they get they will not be offered a place.

Mooney says students should go to www. qualifax. ie, a database of courses, before they fill out their change of mind form. Here they will find all the details on every course in the country.

More than 80pc of those who change their minds register their new choices online, says Joe O'Grady, operations manager at the CAO. "It prevents mistakes that applicants frequently make on paper application forms, such as filling in a non-existent course code." The online system would not allow a mistake like this to go though, nor would it allow errors such as putting a level eight course in the level six or seven list.

Online applicants are also directed to a list of courses that have been added to or removed from the list in the original CAO handbook.

These can also be found in the 'Important Changes' section of the online handbook. Level eight additions to the original handbook include: physical education in Dublin City University; architecture in University College Cork; commerce with Chinese studies in University College Dublin; and Chinese and international business in Dublin Institute of Technology.

Bar management at Cork Institute of Technology and aircraft systems at Institute of Technology, Carlow are two of the additions to the level seven courses. Dental nursing at Athlone Institute of Technology was one of the new options at level six.

Several courses have been cancelled, had name changes or changed degree levels.

O'Grady points out that there are also restricted categories of applicants, for example, mature applicants, and they should check with admissions offices before making any changes.

All the talk of change of mind may have some people wishing they had applied to go to college this year. Although the late applications date for the CAO was 1 May, people can still apply for certain courses in the 'Available Places' section of the CAO website.