'Onwards and upwards' as Joanne O' Riordan officially accepts UCC place

Thousands of "relieved" and "happy" students have posted tweets celebrating their new-found status as college students.

Most were happy with their offers while some admitted they weren't "exactly what I wanted".

Joanne O' Riordan officially accepted her place at University College Cork to study criminology. She had expected to secure a place but was delighted to make it official, tweeting that it was "onwards and upwards" from here, adding "#proud".

Popular blogger Leanne Woodfull of 'Thunder and Threads' is among the happy new college students, posting that receiving an offer to NCAD this morning was the "best feeling".

Woodfull was up at 5.55am to accept her place in Visual Culture at NCAD and added that she is "so glad I waited until a college course came along that I genuinely wanted to do!"

Speaking to Independent.ie, Woodfull said she's "emotional" and "just delighted with life".

"I never felt the "college excitement" after my exams 3 years ago", she wrote. "I deferred my first choice... and boy, am I so glad I did so! I waited until I found the course that clicked".

Over 10,000 students of the 50,000 that received offers have already accepted their CAO place - before the post even arrives. Colleges report that "most of the business" is happening online as nervous students refuse to wait for the paper offers.

Student Unions across the country are tweeting students with links to freshets groups and websites in an effort to capitalise on the excitement.

Check out some of the tweets from students around the country below.

If you are worried that you, or your child, did not get offered a CAO place, check out our #CAOadvice center here: