Friday, 09.01.2009
Teaching and science courses favour Leaving Cert students

LEAVING Certificate students have a better chance of securing teaching, engineering and science courses than mature students and other applicants, official figures suggest. The analysis of data from the Central Applications Office, which filled more than 42,000 college places last year, shows that more than four-in-five vacancies in these categories of college programme - accounting for almost one-in-five of all places filled last year between them - were taken by students who sat the Leaving Certificate just months earlier. <br /><br /> Figures revealed by the Irish Examiner in November showed just under 70% of places on all courses in 2008 went to Leaving Certificate students. Mature students, people with previous third-level experience and those with further education qualifications each made up more than 10% of all successful applicants. <br /><br /> The latest figures show how places were distributed on the most popular categories of third-level courses, accounting for more than 25,000 or over 60% of all CAO vacancies. <br /><br /> The deadline for this year's applications is looming. The CAO reported almost 12,000 people already applied by yesterday morning, compared to just over 9,000 this time last year. <br /><br /> The arts and social science category, by far the most popular discipline with almost one-in-four CAO places, bears closest resemblance to overall figures for all applications last year, with 68% of places filled by Leaving Certificate students. <br /><br /> While just over half the places on nursing courses last year went to school leavers, this is mainly due to the fact that application to many of these degrees is reserved for mature students. Similarly, the fact that fewer than three-in-five medical school places filled in 2008 went to leaving Certificate students can be explained by the CAO handling applications for the first crop of students seeking places on postgraduate medicine programmes last year. <br /><br /> Despite the expected loss of hundreds of teaching jobs because of Government cutbacks next autumn, students have been advised that choosing a primary teaching course is still a wise option. <br /><br /> Last year, the proportion listing a teacher training degree as their first choice in the CAO application form rose by 7% to 5,321. <br /><br /> "The cuts will mean hundreds of trainee teachers graduating this year will join the dole queue but hopefully agreement can be reached on future teacher supply which will give some certainty to those thinking of applying for a teacher training course this year," said Irish National Teachers' Organisation general secretary John Carr. <br /><br />* The Choices 2009 supplement in today's Irish Examiner offers advice to anyone considering making a CAO application before February 1.