This morning, some 52,028 students will be anxiously signing in to the CAO website to see if they made it in to the college of their choice.
The students, who received Leaving Cert results last week, had to wait until today for the CAO to release official points requirements for courses, and to find out if they had been accepted onto their chosen course.
For those awaiting offers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, there may be a few surprises, with points for science courses up at all universities except Trinity College Dublin and UCD.
At Trinity, science may have dipped slightly to 510 points, but increases were seen in mathematics (up 30 points, to 570), engineering (up 25 points, to 495) and computer science (up 25 points, to 490), among others.
At DCU, science rose from 460 points to 470, and engineering from 375 to 390. Biomedical engineering is up 10 points to 390. Computer applications held steady, while computational problem solving and software development actually dropped.
In UCC, biological and chemical sciences is up 25 points to 470, and computer science is up 10 to 440, with mathematics holding steady at 550.
Similar fluctuations can be seen across the board.
Points increases appear to reflect an increasing confidence in the STEM sector, with students likely adjusting course choices to reflect the job market – increased course demand means an increase in points.
College offers are available on the CAO website already.
If any students are concerned about their offer, the CAO recommends contacting the college directly. The colleges will deal with enquiries about eligibility and points requirements.
UCC is operating a live Q&A throughout the day, and will be holding a Twitter Q&A between 3pm and 4.30pm using the hashtag #AskUCC.
Main image via Shutterstock
