Degrees of relief, but the pressure for points continues for many of the courses on offer (Part 2)

Commerce/business studies degrees

There was little change in the points required to secure a first-round offer in commerce. In UCC, points rose by five to 450, in NUI Galway and UCD, the cut-offs were similar to last year at 415* and 445 respectively.

There was also very little movement in the requirements for business studies in DCU, DIT, UL and WIT while in TCD, Business, Economics and Social Studies was down 10 to 465.

Combined business and commerce degrees with languages saw some dramatic falls - with commerce and Italian in UCC down to 350 from 435, commerce and German in NUI Galway down to 395 from 470 and commerce and Spanish down to 375 from 435.

Two perennially highpoints courses remained in the elusive 500 points plus bracket: in UCD, actuarial and financial studies required 550 points. while in DCU, financial and actuarial maths required 500*.

The new European business (transatlantic studies) at DCU had a cut-off of 470.

Teacher training

The cut-off points for primary teacher training fell across the board, with the biggest drop in the Church of Ireland College. Here points fell by 30 to 355. In St Patrick's, Drumcondra, the cut-off was 440*, down 20 on last year, and in Mary Immaculate the first round cut-off of 445* was five down on last year.

As always, the points required by Gaeltacht applicants for Colaiste Mhuire, Froebel, St Pat's, Drumcondra, and Mary Immaculate were significantly lower than the cut-off for general applicants.

Medicine, veterinary, dentistry

There was no change in the points levels required for dentistry at UCC and TCD (535 and 540* respectively). Random selection applied at TCD. In medicine, applicants to NUI Galway may have been disappointed by a 10-point rise. At TCD, medicine topped the points list at 570*, while UCC required 560, NUI Galway 550*, RCSI 545 and UCD 555. Veterinary medicine at UCD was unchanged at 540*.

Arts degrees

There was very little change in the first-round points required for arts - other than in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, where humanities fell by 30 to 380*. In UCC arts rose by five, while in NUI Galway, UCD and NUI Maynooth points fell by five; UL remained static.

Science degrees

The points required for admission to common-entry science were down on last year's levels. Drops ranged from 45 in UCD (down to 345) to 10 in DCU and NUI Maynooth.

Engineering degrees

The popularity of common-entry engineering programmes varied. It all depended on which college you applied for. For instance, in UCD and DIT, points fell by 15 while they rose by five in TCD (430) and NUI Galway (470).

Certs and diplomas: dramatic changes

There were some steep rises and falls in certificate and diploma courses with computing software/German in Dundalk IT rising by 210, health science and physiology in Sligo IT up 170, computer applications and support/ German in Dundalk IT up 130, aquaculture in Galway/Mayo IT up 115 and business studies (e-commerce) at DLIADT up 110.

Meanwhile, computing/ multimedia at DLIADT dropped 95 points, office information systems in Carlow IT fell by 75 and travel and travel and tourism in DIT dropped by 70.

Music degrees

For the musically inclined, admission to college is usually based on an audition, interview and/or test as well as Leaving Cert points. So points sometimes exceed the maximum of 600 attainable at Leaving Cert.

In Cork IT, the cut-off was unchanged at 660. Still in Cork, in UCC, points for arts/ music were also unchanged, while they rose by 30 for music. No cut-offs are given for DCU's music performance, while in DIT points fell by 75 to 280.

In TCD, there was also a dramatic rise - to 450 from 365 in last year's first round. It is NUI Maynooth's first year to offer a denominated entry and the cut-off was 280, while in UCD points fell by 65. In Mater Dei, religion/education/music required 350 points.

It is difficult to interpret these rises and falls in the denominated-entry programmes; the change could be attributed to either the Leaving Cert or the assessment. However, generally a rise means increased demand while a fall means demand fell.

Music is also offered as part of a number of common-entry humanities programmes.