STUDENTS ARE deserting property and construction courses in their droves, opting instead for traditional courses such as teaching, according to the first round of CAO college offers out this morning.
Overall, points for most courses at higher level continue their downward spiral. Points for no less than 325 higher level courses have fallen.
Medicine and teaching are two of the few areas bucking the trend. A minimum of 570 points - almost the "perfect" Leaving Cert - is needed for any undergraduate course in medicine. The popularity of teaching also continues to surge, with 470 points required for St Patrick's training college in Dublin and 475 for Mary Immaculate, Limerick.
However, it is the dramatic points fall in courses linked to building which is the striking feature this year. All five architecture courses are down, with University of Limerick down 20 points to 490. Civil engineering is also down across the board - at NUI Galway by 30 points to 425. At Dublin Institute of Technology, quantity surveying is down 40 points to 400. Construction Management is down by 35 points in both the DIT and Galway-Mayo IT, to 360 and 330 respectively.
Engineering programmes have also shown a downturn in interest, with entry programmes at both the DIT and UCD dropping 20 points to 390 and 475 respectively. The drop at NUI Galway and DCU is more stark, down 45 points to 400 and 340 respectively.
In general, students are linking their CAO choices to what they see as employment opportunities in each sector, instead of focusing on the educational value. Physiotherapy, for example, is down 15 points in UCD and the College of Surgeons - and by 10 points at Trinity. This follows negative publicity about poor job opportunities for graduates.
Nursing has seen a decrease in points across the board, dropping 35 in DCU to 365. Most other healthcare courses have also seen a fall after a barrage of negative publicity for the health service. This morning, 39,207 applicants will have received a level 8 (higher degree) offer and 35,296 a level 7/6 (degree/cert) offer.
While the number of CAO applications reached a record level this year, the "points race" is still over for the vast majority of students. This is because colleges have increased the number of places on offer to meet bigger demand. Places on Level 8 higher degree programmes went up by almost 2,000.
Points for a majority of courses are up at DCU, UCD and NUI Maynooth and down at DIT, Trinity, Cork and Galway. At UL, exactly the same number of courses went up and down. Points for the largest undergraduate course in the State - Arts at UCD, which has over 1,100 places - are up marginally to 350 this year.
By comparison, 300 points are required for science at UCD, reflecting the sluggish level of overall interest among students. At Trinity, points for science are down 25 to 415, although Maynooth bucks the trend with points increasing for their Science programme by 15 points to 320.
Business courses and law are also dropping in points, reflecting concerns about uncertain economic times and the slowdown in conveyancing and other legal work.
Commerce at NUI Galway has dropped substantially from 390 to 365 while DCU business is down 10 points to 425. Law is down 10 points at Trinity to 535 and at UCD to 500.