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Billy Ryle says extra places have stabilised the CAO points as Kerry’s applicants sweep the board in Round One of college offers…
The excellent results achieved last week by Kerry’s 1,645 traditional Leaving Cert candidates saw them sweep the board in CAO Round One, when college offers were released at 2pm on Wednesday.
After a few nervous days, the tension was lifted when a large majority of Kerry’s CAO applicants received a college offer.
On a pro rata population basis, Kerry’s CAO applicants will be close to the top of the class in securing college places.
That scenario, of course, depends on students’ ability to finance their education and to secure accommodation. Any student who is forced to defer or refuse a higher education course due to lack of finance and/or accommodation will be absolutely devastated.
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A final CAO application figure of 84,228 meant keen competition across many courses. 2,394 applicants applied to CAO from County Kerry.
However, the extra college places on offer this year have resulted in some stability in the points and have retarded the upward trend of recent years. Only nineteen courses had to use random selection this year compared to forty-seven last year.
The new route to nursing degrees through Colleges of Further Education has eased the CAO points for nursing.
While many CAO courses have seen points rise, the extra places have benefitted the applicants. It’s very evident that the provision of extra college places is one way to reduce points requirements and to ease the pressure on young people.
While the majority of the 48,268 applicants to the CAO from the 2023 Leaving Cert class, along with the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Leaving Cert classes, will have the points to meet the course requirements, it will leave many candidates who are presenting previous years’ Leaving Cert results struggling to secure a college place.
Many of these applicants from the pre-Covid era had little or no chance of competing with this year’s inflated grades.
The 2023 statistics prove that the applicants are very efficient in their engagement with the CAO. 57,980 CAO applicants received at least one of the 87,075 courses on offer on Thursday afternoon.
The offers consisted of 52,949 at Level 8 and 34,126 at Level7/Level 6. Offers are issued independently in respect of the two lists (Level 8 and Level 7/Level 6), so that some applicants received two offers, one from each list.
The collective good news is that of the 52,949 applicants who were offered a Level 8 course 31,251 (59%), received their first preference and a very impressive 45,013 (85%) received one of their top three preferences.
Of the 34,126 applicants who were offered a Level 7/Level 6 course, 30,879 (90%) received their first preference and a whopping 33,713 (99%) received one of their top three preferences.
The overriding conclusion from the points’ trends is that CAO applicants are totally focussed on the jobs market.
They applied in large numbers for courses with strong employment growth. UCC’s flagship Biological and Chemical Sciences degree again hit the heady heights of 533, while its Engineering degree has jumped from 510 points to 520.
Physiotherapy at the University of Limerick came in at 589* points. Primary Teaching at Mary Immaculate College Limerick is down from 509 points to 497 and MTU Tralee’s excellent General Nursing Degree dropped from 433 points to 371.
Health Science courses remain very popular putting them beyond the points’ totals of most CAO applicants. Dentistry at UCC, for example, requires a staggering 625 points again this year – a perfect Leaving Cert exam result!
School leavers continue to rush to college in unprecedented numbers. The steady flow also of mature and non-traditional applications is a very healthy development as everybody deserves a second chance.
A quota of places was reserved by CAO for the 6,980 mature applicants and the 10,999 applicants from the PLC sector. Congrats to everybody who secured a CAO offer today.
CHECKLIST
• 61,736 Leaving Cert candidates in total – 58,006 LC Established & 3,730 LC Applied
• 1,764 Leaving Cert candidates in Kerry – 1,645 LC Established & 119 LC Applied
• 84,228 CAO applications in 2023; down slightly down from 84,420 in 2022
• 2,394 CAO applicants from Kerry; a 4.4% decrease on the 2022 figure of 2,505
• Kerry’s CAO applicants did extremely well in Wednesday’s Round One offers
• An applicant was offered the highest course preference to which s/he was entitled
• When an applicant was offered a course preference, s/he was excluded from any course preference LOWER than the one offered.
• In the second or subsequent rounds of offers, an applicant won’t be considered for a preference LOWER than that already offered.
• An applicant who was offered a preference, which is not her/his first preference, may subsequently be offered a HIGHER preference
• It’s not necessary to accept an offer in order to be considered for a HIGHER preference
• An applicant who has accepted an offer is not obliged to accept any subsequent offer
• CAO vacant place facility opens at noon on Thursday, 31st August
• Accept CAO Round One offer by 3pm, on Tuesday, 5th September
• TBC: results of Leaving Cert appeals released
• Many Post-Leaving Cert (PLC) Courses still have vacancies
• Apply now to State Agencies for training courses
• Many schools cater for repeat Leaving Cert students
• The confidential help line free phone number is 1800 265 165
Congrats to all applicants who received a CAO college offer
Billy Ryle is a Career Guidance Counsellor and Educational Commentator
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