Lucky third-level applicants will receive more than one course offer

OFFERS of a place at third level are due to arrive in the homes of more than 40,000 school leavers this morning.

All 59,202 applicants to the Central Applications Office (CAO) should receive a letter saying whether or not they are being made an offer. Many lucky applicants will receive two offers, one from the degree list and one from the certificate/diploma list. Only one offer can be accepted.

Unsuccessful applicants will receive letters containing the details of their application and course choices. For them, all hope is not lost several thousand additional offers are generally made in subsequent rounds of offers. Acceptances of first round offers must reach the CAO office in Galway by August 28th.

For those who have applied for a higher education grant, and for all students offered places on courses in the RTCs, the deposit payable to secure a place is £5.

The deposit for most university courses for non-grant applicants is generally £150, though in the case of UCD, UL and UCC, additional levies apply.

This year, about 31,090 places are available in the universities, the RTCs and the Dublin Institute of Technology. A further 18,000 places on post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses are also available, though at most only 15,000 of these are first year places.

Fianna Fail's education spokesman, Mr Micheal Martin, said yesterday it was "outrageous" that PLC students were not entitled to any maintenance grants this year. Accusing the Minister for Education of being indifferent to their plight, he said PLC students were the only category of students not to qualify for any sort of support.

"We now have the ridiculous situation where a student attending Ballyfermot Senior College, for instance, with a parent income of £15,000 a year, will receive no maintenance support whatever, while his/her equivalent attending Trinity College will have free fees and a maintenance grant. That is the Labour Party's concept of equality in our education system."