Educators have attributed a rise in the points requirements for science and technology courses to the success of an intensive campaign to inform students about careers prospects and opportunities in the science and technology field.
The CAO first round offers published this morning showed science courses making a strong recovery following last year’s much-publicised points drop, with the entry threshold for Science at UCD jumping from 280 to 325 points and the equivalent course at TCD increasing 25 points to 450.
Speaking on national radio this morning, Brian Mooney of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors attributed the recovery to students and parents heeding the advice of careers guidance counsellors to give strong consideration to science and technology careers.
Despite the rebound, the demand for technology courses still lags significantly behind other non-science courses. 370 points are required to secure a place on the most popular course in the State, Arts at UCD, while 570 points are needed to do medicine and 400+ for nursing courses.
By Brian Skelly
