A record number of students have applied for college places this year according to analysis of CAO applications released by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) today.
A study carried out by Dr Vivienne Patterson, head of Statistics at the HEA, which is being presented to the authority today, shows the number of applicants reached a record high of 71,843 in 2010, an increase of 6.2 per cent from 2009.
First preference applications for medicine and other healthcare programmes have increased while there has been a slight fall in the demand for law and business courses.
Almost 16,000 students have put arts/humanities degree courses as their first choice, representing more than a quarter of all students.
The figures show students deserting courses linked to the property sector, with demand for programmes in construction down.
Construction first preference applications dropped from 2,225 in 2009 to 1,758 in 2010. Construction courses now make up 2.8 per cent of all first preference applicants compared to 7.1 per cent in 2007.
The HEA said that these figures show that the demand for higher education in Ireland remains very strong and anticipates that more third level places than ever before will be offered this autumn.
More than two out of three 18 year olds in Ireland now go on to higher education compared to one in five 30 years ago, according to the authority.