Demand for third-level places in medicine, nursing, architecture and law has increased significantly amid a declining interest in education, engineering and business, according to application figures released by the Central Applications Office.
The final round of figures released in advance of the Leaving Certificate results on August 16th shows a 7 per cent increase in first-preference applications for nursing and medicine, indicating the possibility of increased points for both courses.
The rise in the popularity of medicine and nursing comes amid a declining interest in the related fields of physiotherapy, pharmacy, dentistry and healthcare courses such as occupational therapy and radiography.
A 14 per cent drop in the number of applications for teacher-training will be of disappointment to the Department of Education, following its high-profile campaign to attract men into the profession.
In 2005, men accounted for just 11 per cent of teacher-training students.
Experts stress, however, that the decrease in applications to the CAO must be viewed in the context of a continued decline in the number of students sitting the Leaving Certificate.
The falling interest in engineering and technology, where applications dropped 7 per cent, will be of concern to the Government, which has emphasised the need to attract students into such areas in the drive to create a knowledge-based economy.
However, the 7 per cent increase in first-preference applications for science will bring some comfort to bodies which have been working to remarket science as an attractive career.
The increase in science applications may be attributed to the creation of a new graduate-entry-level system which would enable science graduates to later undertake a postgraduate course in medicine.
For the 63,170 students who applied to the CAO this year, arts and social science courses remained most popular.
For these subjects, the CAO received a total of 89,461 applications, 14,309 of which were first-preference.
Demand for courses in agriculture and horticulture increased significantly, alongside architecture and art and design.
Notably, law courses recorded almost a 19 per cent increase in applications.
While applications to the honours-degree level courses increased slightly this year, the 4 per cent decrease in applications to the ordinary-degree, diploma and certificate levels will be of concern to the 14 institutes of technology countrywide.
Following the release of Leaving Certificate points on August 16th, first-round offers will be made on Monday, August 21st.