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Guidance Counsellor Billy Ryle says the interim statistics, released on Thursday by the CAO, are very encouraging for college applicants…
Interim figures released yesterday by the Central Applications Office (CAO) suggest that the demand for CAO college places continues to level off.
The data covers the period up to 1st March 2023, the closing date for amending course choices. 78,025 applications have been lodged with the CAO, almost on par with the 78,012 at the same time last year.
With the economy flourishing, it seems that more Leaving Cert candidates are seriously considering the ‘world of work,’ apprenticeships, traineeships and further education as alternatives to the CAO route.
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It looks as if the final number of CAO applications in 2023, which will be released later in the year, will continue the downward trend in applications of 84,420 last year and 84,526 in 2021.
The significant decrease in the number of mature applicants (23yrs or older) is further indication of the growth in employment. In total, there are 5,904 mature applicants, down by 683 on last year’s figure and by 2,763 on the 2021 figure.
9,913 applicants to the CAO have registered for the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE). This is an increase of 1,200 on last year’s figure. DARE is a third level alternative admissions scheme for school leavers with an educational or medical disability.
8,624 applicants applied for the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) route, a third level alternative admissions scheme for school leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are resident in the Republic of Ireland.
Despite the current pressure on household incomes, that figure is 623 less than last year. The interim data will change slightly when late applications are taken into account and when the Change of Mind facility closes on 1st July at 5pm.
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The majority of CAO applicants will be permitted to use the Change of Mind facility when it opens on 5th May to add, remove or re-order course choices, which will result in changes to the figures released for 1st March. Late applications are also accepted up to 1st May at 5pm.
Despite the stabilisation in the number of CAO applications, competition for prestigious courses will again be intense if the grades are artificially inflated as they were last year.
On average, the 2022 Leaving Cert class received about 60 CAO points more than they would have achieved in 2019.
It brought more CAO applicants up to very high, if not maximum, points levels, putting pressure on courses where competition is always very keen.
It’s now time to return to the normality of the pre-Covid marking schemes and reduce the points to the 2019 levels in order to ease the pressure on the 2023 Leaving Cert Class.
Of the 78,025 applicants who have applied to CAO, 67,921 have registered choices on the Honours Bachelor Degrees (Level 8) list, down from 68,480 last year, while 30,290 have done likewise on the Ordinary Bachelor Degrees/ Higher Certificate (Level 7/6) list, down from 31,467 last year.
Disciplines that have seen a surge in first preference applications include Business/Administration up to 8,805 from 8,492 last year or by 4%, Law up to 2,779 from 2,627 or by 6%, Information & Communications Technology up to 4,067 from 3,829 or by 6%, Engineering up to 4,189 from 4,025 or by 4%, Architecture/Construction up to 2,778 from 2,627 or by 6%, Agriculture up to 408 from 345 or by a whopping 18%.
As expected, the general Arts/Humanities/ Language degrees have appealed to a huge 11,050 applicants, up slightly from last year’s figure of 10,942.
Surprisingly, social science applications have dropped by 7%, down from 5,472 to 5,071. Interest in health-related courses is down 7% from 13,021 to 12,087.
Applications for degrees in Environmental Science have dropped from 532 to 452 or a significant 15%, which suggests a move away from environmental and climate issues.
In the specialist groupings, applications for Primary Teaching have dropped to 2,259 from 2,543 or by 11%, which is of concern.
Secondary Teaching applications have increased to 2180 from 1960 or by 11%, which is very good news.
Nursing degree applications, down by 10% to 3908 from 4363 and medical degree applications, down by 11% to 3,606 from 4,058 are indicative of the difficult working conditions in these areas.
Dentistry degree applications remain steady at 455 from last year’s 464 while Pharmacy degree applications have increased significantly to 532 from 484 or by 10%, which proves how a regular working day and a constant demand for prescription and over-the-counter medications can be attractive in terms of a good work and life balance.
Applications, with the exception of the changing trends mentioned earlier, are very much on par with current trends in a very healthy employment environment.
Applicants are keeping a very close eye on the jobs market and are acutely aware that a good qualification is a passport to a successful career.
Prospects for the 2023 Leaving Cert class look very promising. Except for a few very competitive quota-based courses, there will be a third level course on offer for the vast majority of CAO applicants. That’s how it should be!
• Billy Ryle is a Career Guidance Counsellor and Educational Commentator
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