Find the CAO points for every Level 6, 7 and 8 college course with our searchable tables at the end of this articleLottery for entry to some hotly-contested courses left even applicants with the maximum 625 points – or close to it – without their top choice.
A lottery for entry to some hotly-contested courses left even applicants with the maximum 625 points – or close to it – without their top choice.
While CAO Round 1 brought a fall in points for some disciplines, others saw a spectacular increase.
In many other courses the points were relatively stable, but remain at, or close to, the record levels that have been seen in recent years.
When places are being allocated and students tie on the minimum cut-off points, a lottery process, known as random selection, comes into play. An asterisk beside the cut-off points denotes random selection.
The CAO issued 83,369 offers to 56,571 CAO applicants.
Well over half (56pc) of Level 8 (honours degree) offers were for the applicant’s first preference course, and while 83pc were for one of their top three preferences.
The chances of getting an offer were even higher for Level 7/6 (ordinary degree/higher certificate) with 92pc of offers for the applicant’s first preference course, and 99pc for one of their top three preferences.
High points levels are a legacy of the grade inflation associated with Leaving Cert results since 2020 and 2021, when extraordinary assessment and marking arrangements were introduced because of the Covid pandemic.
Grades are running at about 7pc above pre-pandemic levels and that has an automatic knock-on to CAO points.
Education Minister Norma Foley has committed to a gradual reversal of grade inflation from 2025, initially to bring that 7pc down to about 5.5pc next year.
Trinity College Dublin
One example of the cruel blow experienced by students today is Dental Science in Trinity, which has a 625 cut-off, and not all applicants on that score secured a place.
Overall, Trinity has eight courses listed above 600 points.
Ireland’s oldest university made a record 3,897 offers, after expanding its intake in some areas, with two-thirds for students’ first preference courses.
Six of its courses required the use of random selection, compared with five last year: Mathematics (down 12) 589*; Integrated Engineering (up one) 556*; Management Science and Information Systems (down 12) 613*; Integrated Engineering with Management (up 11) 613*; Dental Science (unchanged) 625*; Global Business (down one) 601*.
While Trinity saw a modest fall-off in points with an average drop of nine points across its Single Honours courses, eight of these required students to have 600 points or more.
There was an average fall of six points for its Joint Honours courses.
University College Dublin
At University College Dublin, which made over 6,000 offers, three undergraduate courses are at random selection, including Economics and Finance, where points went up seven to the maximum, 625. The two others are Actuarial and Financial Studies (613 points) and Veterinary Medicine (589 points). Graduate-Entry Medicine was also on random selection.
Among the courses seeing a significant increase in points at UCD was the Modern Languages, up 91 from 307 to 398, BA Arts (Joint Honours) up 41 , Social Policy up 42, and Education with Modern Languages/As Gaeilge increasing its points to 478 – up 47.
However, Biomedical, Health & Life Sciences course eased to 600 from 601, while Medicine recorded a one-point decrease, to 735, which include the HPAT score.
Others, with more modest, but nonetheless significant, rises, were Social Sciences, up 22 from 444 to 468 and Business and Law, up 21 to 576.
Trinity’s Vice-Provost Orla Sheils expressed concern about grade inflation and the lateness of the Leaving Cert results.
“The increased number of students who achieve or exceed the required points for popular courses also introduces a lottery system for allocation of places. This is a cruel arbiter when students have worked so hard,” she said.
“Grade inflation seriously disadvantages those students from Northern Ireland and abroad who are left competing in an uneven playing field, given their results have returned to pre-pandemic levels,” she said.
Later Leaving Cert results is another consequence of Covid-era exam arrangements and Professor Sheils said it made it it more challenging for some students to adapt to third level study, especially in courses with a high points quota, and placed even more pressure to start a new phase of adult life while trying to navigate scant opportunities for accommodation.
At University of Galway UG), which made 3,753 offers, there was mixed movements with almost one third of courses increasing points or remaining steady.
The university’s deputy president and registrar Professor Peter McHugh welcomed the Government commitment to begin to address the issue of inflated grades in the Leaving Cert.”
Trends
Key trends at UG included:
*40pc of the degrees programmes are between the 500-600 points range;
*increase of 41 points for Arts (Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies) reflecting a significant increase in demand and the university’s reputation as an international centre for the creative arts;
*Some of programmes that offer extensive Erasmus opportunities saw an increase in points; BA Global Languages, BComm International (Spanish) and BSc Biotechnology.
*all Engineering and Law programmes continue to cut-off at 500 CAO points or above.
*Flagship programmes of Biomedical Engineering, saw points increasing to 578 (up 30), and Biomedical Science, at 577 (up 10 points).
*Medicine remains random allocation at 728 points.
*An additional 30 places (59c ) available for students seeking to study Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy following Government announcement of increased funding
* Five of eight Commerce programmes require more than 500 points.
Dublin City University, which will welcome over 4,000 new students in September – including 600 who have already accepted through routes other than the Leaving Cert – has seen an increase in points on course include Electronic & Computer Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering, Nursing (General), Nursing (Mental Health), Actuarial and Financial Maths and Accounting and Finance.
Maynooth University (MU) announced a historic year of growth, extending more than 4,200 offers, its largest number ever in Round 1 .
Among the key trends in MU was a 25pc increase in intake to its BSc in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Chemistry and a 20pc rise for BSc in Biological and Biomedical Sciences.
It increased offers in the BBA Business and Language programme by 15pc and introducing 30 new offers for the BCL Law and Languages degree.
In alignment with the Government’s initiative to address the shortage of primary teachers, the university has expanded its intake for the BEd programme, making over 30 additional offers again in 2024.
Its School of Business also experienced an exceptional increase in demand, prompting a 10pc rise in CAO offers across its suite of programmes, including Finance and Accountancy. The BA in Finance programme, in particular, saw an 80pc increase in offers.
Find the 2024 CAO points for every Level 8 college course using the searchable table below:
Find the 2024 CAO points for every Level 7 and 6 college course using the searchable table below:
