Across the country today, over fifty-thousand CAO applicants will receive a third-level course offer from the Central Applications Office. There’s no doubt that Dublin City University’s admin team will be very busy indeed, as they are offering a whopping 3,418 places to students. This is an increase on last year’s figures despite a national drop of almost 3% in applications to universities.
Shifts in Application Trends
There was good news for most of the potential students, as points for degrees at DCU have remained stable. It was courses in STEM, Education, Business, and Sport which had the highest entry points.
Courses in a few areas have seen notable increases, however. For example:
● Entry points for PE with Biology increased by 24 points to 511.
● The BSc in Data Science (Ireland’s only data science degree) increased by 22 points to 476.
● The Post-Primary Teacher Education degree in Religion and History increased by 23 points to 373.
● The BA in Social Sciences and Cultural Innovation increased by 10 points to 366 despite having doubled the number of places offered.
Popular Options
Perhaps this year’s good weather inspired a few last minutes CAO changes to a career where you can enjoy the summer. DCU’s Bachelor of Education (BEd) Primary teaching degree was hugely popular, with more than 2000 students placing this in their top-three preferences and over 900 making it their number one preference. In the end, only 431 students were offered places on it.
Similarly, applications for General Nursing are also strong, with almost 1000 students picking it as one of their top three choices. Only 64 lucky students received offers for this programme.
Whoever said ‘Art is Dead’ – or Arts for that matter – definitely wasn’t talking about the Joint Honours Humanities programme, which made it to the top three for 740 students.
Comparison
The increasing popularity of DCU’s 3rd Level options can be seen in the high applications-to-places ratios across a broad range of programmes. For example:
● In the Children’s and General Nursing Integrated degree programme, there were 19 applications for every place offered.
● In General Nursing the ratio was 16:1.
● In Global Business (Transatlantic) and Global Business (Canada) the ratio was 14:1.
● In Psychology it was 12:1.
● In Athletics Therapy and Training it was 11.5:1.
● In Sports Science it was 10:1.
By the Numbers
Maths and Business degrees remain the highest points courses at DCU, with Global Business Transatlantic at 578, Global Business Canada at 565, Financial and Actuarial Maths at 520 and Maths-Common Entry at 509, followed by Global Business (Spanish) at 499 in the top-five highest points category.
DCU Response
The President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian MacCraith said: ‘This year’s applications to DCU have remained consistently strong and we are pleased to have increased our numbers of offers in spite of a national drop in applications to universities. We found strong demand for our offerings in the areas of STEM, Business, Education, and Humanities. These areas have an enduring popularity among students because of the quality of the offering and also the national and global employment opportunities they provide. The high points for degrees with an international dimension (e.g. the Global Business suite of degrees) provide clear evidence that students are thinking globally. The influence of employment prospects and career purpose on students’ choices is also reflected strongly in the huge interest in degree programmes in areas such as teaching and nursing.’
If you haven’t been offered a place yet, don’t panic. There are so many routes to get the career you want. Explore your options at our free Education Expo Event.
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