Surge in points disappoints students

A DRAMATIC increase in points for some third-level courses may leave some students disappointed by their CAO offers, but there are plenty of alternatives, the president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors has said.

Thousands of students were offered college places by the Central Applications Office (CAO) in its first round of offers yesterday.

Those who applied for courses in construction, law and journalism may have been pleasantly surprised by the drop in points required. But a rise in the popularity of science and an increase in nursing and teaching means some students who believed last Wednesday that they had sufficient points for their chosen course may have found that they did not make the cut.

This may include some who applied for science at UCD, where points increased by 85 on last year, early childhood studies at Dundalk IT, which also increased by 85 points, or general nursing at NUI Galway, which increased by 45 points.

Eilis Coakley, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, said students who did not get their first preference but did get an offer, should consider it carefully and accept it if it is a course they are interested in.

She said they could accept the offer and still remain in contention for courses higher up their list of preferences when the CAO makes its second round of offers.

At noon today, students can also check out the CAO’s “vacant places” list, which features a number of courses that either have not been filled or were introduced after the application process began.

The further education sector also offers a wide range of options, including PLC colleges, Teagasc and Fáilte Ireland. They may be used as stepping stones to college courses next year. There are also a small number of apprenticeships around, Ms Coakley said, and the Defence Forces has advertised for army and naval cadets.

There are also some opportunities for employment with training, such as trainee management in the retail sector.

Ms Coakley advised that students in need of advice today should contact The Irish Times helpline, 1800 946942, run in conjunction with the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

She said students could talk through the options and find alternative routes into the career of their choice.

She also urged anyone who had been offered a course they wanted to accept to send in their acceptance forms by the deadline next Tuesday or to register online.

The move away from construction-related courses meant a fall in applications to civil engineering.

However, John Power, director general of Engineers Ireland, welcomed the growing interest in other emerging sectors of engineering including in biopharmaceutical and environmental engineering.

He said engineering was an integral part of the smart economy framework, “which is nothing more than a pipe dream unless we have a ready supply of engineers to meet the needs of the key sectors that underpin this framework”.

He called for speedier reform at secondary level to boost the take-up of maths and science subjects fundamental to engineering.

Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society, said the fall-off in applications for law courses may be the market righting itself.

“On any objective analysis there is a significant oversupply of lawyers in the country at present and likely to be for some considerable time,” he said. “If people choose because of that not to do law, well then it may be to a certain extent a market righting itself.”