In a further indication that the points race has ended, CAO points for the vast majority of higher level courses were unchanged in the second round offers released this morning.
Points have dropped further in some medical and paramedical courses - especially at Trinity.
But the points level for the most popular courses - in arts, commerce, science and law - are virtually all unchanged.
In one development which will dismay Government and business, points for the popular computers course at Dublin Institute of Technology have dropped from 250 to 210. This appears to indicate that the college - like others in the third-level system - is finding it difficult to attract students to IT programmes.
The second round of CAO offers was once keenly anticipated by students desperate to get a college place. But with record numbers now securing one of their top three CAO options, the second round has become less important.
The second round is now seen by career experts as a "tidying up" exercise by colleges for errors uncovered during the first-round process. This morning points figures for virtually all higher level courses in some colleges like DCU, NUI Galway and NUI Maynooth are unchanged.
Trinity College was the one college to buck the trend of falling points in the CAO first round. But even its points levels have dropped this morning.
Medicine, physiotherapy, science and pharmacy have all dropped by five points at TCD. Dentistry is down by 10 points to 555 points.
Pharmacy is also down at the Royal College of Surgeons from 550 to 545.
The CAO second round underlines the difficulty colleges are having in filling many places. A list of vacant places will continue to be available on www.cao.ie for the next weeks.
See CAO second-round offers
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