Many nervous CAO applicants waited with bated breath coming up to the 2pm Wednesday release of the first round offers.
Given grade inflation, many feared that this would feed into even higher points in many high-demand programmes.
When the offers landed, it became evident that 59 per cent of those receiving first round offers secured their top course choice, an increase of 5 per cent on 2022. Furthermore, 85 per cent received one of their first three choices.
So, the mood among applicants yesterday was a very positive one.
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1. CAO points fall for 60% of courses
This reduction in CAO points requirement is against a background of a decision by the Minister for Education Norma Foley to ensure that the pattern of grades awarded in 2023 matched those of both 2021 and 2022.
Even though Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris inserted a little over 1,000 additional places in ICT, architecture, nursing, engineering, sciences among others in 2022, and a further 465 places in medicine, nursing and other paramedical courses in 2023, those additions do not fully explain why points fell for so many courses.
One explanation is that the pattern of increases in grades applied to students’ original marks in the Leaving Cert was towards the lower end rather than those who were in the 600 points range.
This year 952 students, or 1.6 per cent of applicants, secured 625 points – a decrease from 2022 when 1,122 achieved maximum points.
Furthermore, 1,848, or 3 per cent of applicants secured between 600-625 points. Again, that is a reduction on the 2,083 students who secured those scores in 2022.
Within the really high points courses, the loss of one grade or 12 CAO points has had a significant effect in reducing requirements.
Another factor is higher level maths. Up to 1,600 fewer students received a H1 in maths. This, as John McGinnity, guidance counsellor with the Institute of Education, noted, may have had a cascading effect down through the system,
2. Additional college places have helped ease points pressure
The creation of 120 additional medical places in the past two years, alongside several hundred fewer students breaking the 600 points ceiling, has seen the combined Hpat and CAO points requirement drop across all five medical degrees offered at undergraduate level.
In nursing, where a serious effort is now being made to fund additional places both in the Republic of Ireland nursing schools and through the purchase of 200 additional nursing places for students from this State in Northern Ireland colleges, the points are down considerably. General Nursing is down in UCD 48 points from 451 to 403, in Letterkenny from 408 to 360 and in Dundalk by 35 from 415 to 380.
3. Trends in student application numbers affected points
Veterinary Medicine effectively dropped one Leaving Cert grade or 12 CAO points from 601* to 589 this year. This can be attributed to both the reduction in the numbers of students securing over 600 as outlined in the previous point, but also to an 18 per cent decrease in the numbers listing veterinary as their first choice programme.
Students’ preferences in terms of disciplines are reflected in the CAO points required.
4. It’s the economy
Where CAO points requirements have held up strongly are in the disciplines where excellent employment prospects are still very evident to students.
In UCD, for example, the biggest increase was seen in City Planning & Environmental Policy (DN130), up 32 points to 487 points in 2022′s first round. Landscape Architecture (DN120) also saw a sharp rise, increasing its round one cut-off points to 477 – up 22 points.
5. What to do about the accommodation crisis?
The fly in the ointment for the one-third of potential third level students who can’t commute comfortably from home to college, or who can’t secure or afford campus-based accommodation, is to find any or affordable accommodation close to their college campus.
Over the coming days, before next Tuesday’s September 5th, 3pm deadline for accepting their place, thousands of students and their families will be seeking places to live. The days of the very basic bedsit may be long gone but many are now mourning its demise.
