Wait for college places will end this Monday for most of the 61,000 hopefuls

Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

A slight drop in high grades in some core Leaving Certificate subjects may lead to lower point scores overall.

But steady demand for most courses means the requirements are not likely to fall significantly in any area.

The courses needing highest points will again be in the health sciences, with almost 8,000 of the 61,000 CAO applicants listing medicine on their choice of degrees.

Of these, 2,250 made it their first preference but only about 300 will be offered it, meaning at least 570 points or 6 straight A1s will probably be needed.

The level of interest in most areas of study is in line with other years, but there has been an 8.5% drop in applications for business and administration degrees. There is a slight drop in applications for engineering and technology degrees, but science courses have attracted 5% more students than last year.

While about 46,000 students are expected to receive at least one offer on Monday, based on last year's figures, not all will get a chance to study their most preferred courses.

However, the CAO is likely to begin advertising vacant places in large numbers of courses from Monday evening or Tuesday.

The website www.cao.ie will allow applicants check for an offer from 6am on Monday.

Each applicant will also be notified by post, with documents due to arrive to their homes on Tuesday.

Most people who are offered a place accept them online, with more than 11,000 doing so within 30 hours of the offer phase beginning last year.

The National Parents Council Post Primary helpline will be open from 8am (1800 265 165) on Monday to allow parents and students talk to guidance counsellors about course choices and options available to them.

Meanwhile, Fáilte Ireland will hold interviews for school leavers interested in training courses for the tourism and hospitality industries.

More details about are available by calling 1850 256 256.