ADMISSION OFFICERS in third-level colleges yesterday completed the task of working out the first round of CAO points for the coming academic year.
First-round details will be published in full in a special Irish Times Options 2010supplement on Monday.
From 6am on Monday students can also log on to the CAO website www.cao.ie to secure their points total.
Students can accept a college place online using their access code and password.
The whole process takes a matter of minutes. But it must be completed before the cut-off date for acceptance of round-one offers - Monday week next, August 30th, at 5.15pm.
If you do not accept your place by this deadline it will go back into the system for the second-round offers.
Broadly, the process of setting CAO points is based on the supply and demand for each course. The greater the student interest in a given course, the higher the points required to gain access to this course.
Points for most college courses are set to increase this year because of a surge in demand for third-level college places.
Overall, college applications for higher level courses have reached record levels, and are up from 64,774 to 67,640.
A tighter jobs market has driven up competition for places, with final CAO figures showing a 4 per cent increase in applications for level 8 or higher degree courses.
There has also been a sharp increase in demand for places in medicine and related areas.
Next Monday’s CAO figures are expected to see:
- A marginal increase for most science/engineering courses;
- An increase in medicine and related courses;
- No major change from last year for business courses;
- A drop in points for property/construction courses and less demand for two related areas – law and architecture;
- An increase in points for nursing;
- No major change in points for teaching.
A modest increase in points is expected this year for most arts courses, including arts at University College Dublin. This is the the largest undergraduate course in the State, attracting over 1,000 students.
The Irish Timeshelpline at 1800 946 942 will be open from 8am on Monday. The helpline, staffed by career experts from the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, has been inundated this week with calls from readers.
Most of the calls came from those worried about failing maths. More than 4,000 students failed maths in the Leaving Cert this year, making them ineligible for many third-level courses.
You can also e-mail your queries to advice@irishtimes.ie