IT IS easier to get into college this year, but more difficult than ever to secure a place on high points courses such as medicine, physiotherapy and computing.
The points requirements for entry to many university courses have remained high, in spite of a fall of almost 4,000 in the number of school leavers applying to the Central Applications Office (CAO) this year. Overall, though, points are down for slightly more than half of all university courses.
The points needed for most RTC courses are also down, in some cases by as much as 50 points.
Almost four out of five applicants to the CAO received a first round offer of a place yesterday. More than 70 per cent received one of their top three preferences, the highest proportion in many years.
Improved Leaving Certificate maths results have contributed to higher points in medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and languages and computing combinations. The points needed for sports and outdoor education courses, and Irish language options, were also up.
In arts, engineering, law, science and pharmacy, the trend was generally downward.
In all, 46,310 school leavers received an offer of a third level place from the CAO yesterday. More than 40 per cent of applicants for degree courses obtained their first preference; for diploma and certificate courses this figure was 58 per cent.
The fall in points for many courses is a once off "blip" explained by a major increase in the number of students opting for the transition year programme two years ago. The underlying improvement in the results shows that the points race will be as competitive as ever again next year, when record numbers of students sit the Leaving Certificate.
This year's points requirements also reveal further evidence of a "two track" pattern in third level education. While the points for some university courses continue to climb to ever giddier heights - nine courses demanded 550 points or over - an average Leaving Cert of about 250 CAO points sufficed for entry to many certificate and diploma courses.
In 21 RTC courses, for example, all applicants who had the basic minimum requirements - five Leaving Cert passes - were accepted.
The highest points were for actuarial and financial studies in UCD, at 595 points, up 10 points on last year. Next came veterinary studies and physiotherapy in UCD, both 575 points, and medicine on 570 points. However, UCD's scores are artificially boosted by the bonus points the college awards for high level maths.
Trinity College, Dublin had the highest number of high points courses, with 17 courses requiring 500 points or more. The highest, medicine, law/French and Greek, required 570 points out of a maximum of 600. UCD had seven courses in this bracket, UCC four, UCG and the Dublin Institute of Technology two and DCU and University of Limerick one.
Better Leaving Cert Irish results this year pushed up the points for teacher training programmes taught through Irish, while DCU's Irish language/finance course went up by 55 points.
The points for the popular arts programme in UCD, UCC and Maynooth all fell by five points - equivalent to one Leaving Cert grade - while engineering was down 15 points in both UCD and Trinity.
CAO applicants who have received offers have until next Wednesday to accept them. The second round of offers will be made on September 3rd.
