The next few days are crucial for students, especially those who were disappointed in the first round of offers.
Today and tomorrow students can view their scripts at their local school and make a decision on whether to appeal their grades or not.
However, if you forgot to apply to view your scripts, you can still appeal your grades. Many students have told us they will be appealing ordinary-level maths, which had an almost 17 per cent failure rate. Only 354 ordinary-level maths grades were appealed last year, and 67 were upgraded. However, this figure could double this year.
First-round statistics
Statistics released on the first round this year indicate that the failure rate in maths has impacted on the number of diploma/certificate offers, which were down over 2,000 to 43,740.
Most of the diploma/certificate courses are in the institute of technology sector, and most of these require a pass in ordinary-level maths. With so many students unable to reach this level, the potential pool of offers has shrunk.
The other notable statistic from the first round was that 74,860 offers were made overall, down from 76,641. Once again the high maths failure rate has probably played some part in this.
Ladder system
Queries continue about whether you can move up the third-level ladder, from certificate to degree, and whether you have to get a place within the CAO system to do so.
Not necessarily. The post Leaving Cert (PLC) route is also open to you.
There are about 2,000 places at third level reserved for people with PLC qualifications each year. There are still some places available at PLC colleges, but you need to be quick.
After finishing your PLC course you can hopefully take up one of these 2,000 places on certificate and diploma courses in the institutes of technology.
These are also open to students who have successfully completed National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA) Level 2 courses.
If you have this qualification you can compete for one of the 2,000 places with other PLC students.
There are about 20,000 places available in PLC colleges each year and many, though not all, are linked to third-level courses. You should check beforehand that the PLC course you want is linked with a third-level course.
Check in the NCVA guide to the Higher Education link scheme 2000 for a detailed list of NCVA certificates which are linked to higher education courses. These details are available from the NCVA (018531910) or by e-mailing information@ncva.ie
The NCVA itself has now been merged into a new body called FETAC (Further Education Training Awards Council) and in future students will receive FETAC certificates/ records of achievement. But you do not need to worry about that.
So students can proceed from Leaving Cert (or Leaving Cert Applied for that matter) to a PLC course and then on to a third-level certificate/diploma course.
They can then continue from certificate level to diploma level or degree level. Generally, those who achieve a merit or distinction in the two-year certificate course can progress to a diploma. Alternatively, you can pass the certificate, then complete one year of relevant work experience, and so proceed to a national diploma and from there to a degree.
There is no central applications body for PLC courses. However, many of them are very popular and have filled up already, so you should check straightaway with your local provider.
Second round
For those who missed it, the second-round offers will be issued on Tuesday. They will be available on www.cao.ie from 6 a.m. and if you are offered a place it should come in the post later that day.
Unlike the first round, only those getting an offer will receive something in the post. If you are not, you will hear nothing from the CAO. For the curious, the cut-off points can be seen on the CAO's website from 6 a.m.
They will also be available on www.ireland.com The Irish Times will publish a 16-page supplement on Tuesday, looking at the cut-off points and the life ahead for you in college.
Dropping out
A lot of students think because they have been offered a place all their troubles have ended, and study is no longer required. However, figures released earlier this year by the Higher Education Authority should cause them to think again.
Its report, A Study of Non- Completion in Undergraduate University Courses, is available on www.hea.ie It contains alarming dropout figures, particularly in science and computer-related courses.
The students surveyed for the report entered university in 1993 and graduated mainly in 1996 or 1997. These figures are the most recent. If you want to know how students before you survived (or did not) the course you have selected, try looking up the details on the website. For example, at UCD a fifth of students failed to graduate in science or architecture.
At NUI Galway, science courses also performed badly. About 40 per cent of students failed to finish the university's chemistry course, while its computer science course had a 28 per cent dropout rate.
Almost a third of computer science students at Trinity failed to finish, while over half of those doing theoretical physics dropped out.
One of the most staggering figures was at NUI Maynooth where over 40 per cent dropped out of science. Since then its president, Dr Seamus Smyth, has taken steps to address the problem.
At DCU, almost a quarter dropped out of its computer applications course and over 40 per cent out of biotechnology.
The areas with the best retention rates across the university sector were law, medicine, dentistry, veterinary and business/commerce.
None of the courses with high dropout rates is of poor quality: in fact many of them are in heavy demand. One of the aims of the Higher Education Authority in publishing such a report was to provide important background information to students and parents before they select a course.
In this way students are pre-warned about the difficult ones. It is then up to them to stay the course.