CAO offers 2016: How has STEM fared?

22 Aug 2016

The CAO points requirements for 2016 have been revealed and, compared with 2015, it seems there is no clear pattern of an increase across the board when it comes to science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects.

With some form of economic recovery now being seen in the Irish economy, this year’s CAO offers were much anticipated by both Leaving Cert students and the general public alike.

Of no surprise, based on the figures released, is that medicine courses remain the courses requiring the highest points.

University College Cork (UCC), for example, requires 726 points, which just pips the Royal College of Surgeons at 725, but is a few behind both University College Dublin (UCD) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD), which both require 730 points for Medicine.

Pharmaceutical-related courses appear to be up marginally on last year, with a few examples, including Cork Institute of Technology, which requires 360 points (350 in 2015) and TCD, which requires 490 points for its Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences course (up from 485).

Physics courses appear to have has both ups and downs among the major universities, with UCC increasing its requirement for its Physics and Astrophysics course by 20 points, while DCU has dropped its Physics with Astronomy requirement by 25 points on last year.

Engineering points increase

TCD’s Mathematics course has dropped by five points to 565, while NUI Galway’s Mathematical science course has fallen by 15 points to 455, but its General Physics degree has increased by 25 points to 450.

Computer science courses have also been a mixed bag in terms of point changes, with TCD lowering its requirement by 10 points to 480, but UCD has done the opposite and raised its course requirement by 10 to 485.

The biggest increase in computer science was in Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) where points increased by 25 to 450, while in UCC the points fell by five to 435.

Engineering has seen a jump in points, with TCD increasing the requirement for its Engineering course to 500 points (up from 495 in 2015), meanwhile, in UCC, a considerable jump in necessary points was seen, with applicants to its General Engineering course needing 490 points, up by 75 points on 2015.

You can access the full list of CAO points online here.

Students celebrating image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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