Medical school entry jumps by 20 points

The first round of offers from the Central Applications Office (CAO) showed students will need a minimum of 570 points to secure a place in medical schools.

The Government is now under increasing pressure to reform the method of entry.

With demand for medical places far outstripping supply, the points requirements has risen by at least 20 points, with 570 for NUI Galway being the lowest cut-off point in this morning’s CAO first round.

A breakdown of last week’s Leaving Certificate results shows that just over 600 pupils, who got four higher level A1s and two A2s, are eligible to study medicine. However, 2,252 students chose medicine as their first choice of degree on their CAO applications.

The lobby group Medical School Entry Ireland last night called on the Government to scrap the cap on the number of places for Irish students wishing to study medicine.

“This is the third year in a row that the Government has failed to scrap the cap of just 305 places for Irish students wishing to study medicine in colleges. The chances of entry to medical school won’t change this year,” secretary Dr Roisín Healy said.

While there will be 305 places for Irish and EU students this year, it is expected that there will be up to 515 places available for non-EU students - about 62% of the total places available. All students from non-EU countries pay in the region of €20,000 a year to study here.

Dr Healy called for the immediate implementation of the Fottrel Report on medical education which recommended that the number of places for Irish and EU medical students be more than doubled to 725.

It is now two years since then Minister for Education Noel Dempsey announced plans to restructure the entry methods for courses in health sciences, particularly those with high points demands such as medicine.

But the consultations are still ongoing as medical and academic experts argue about the merits of changing the system, which restricts placement in the country’s medical schools almost exclusively to those with a handful of Leaving Cert higher level A1s.

The points needed for most nursing courses have also risen this year after a further rise in demand. So too have those for courses in areas such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech therapy.

More than 45,300 students have secured a college course in the first round of offers from the CAO today.

With a slight drop in high grades in popular Leaving Certificate subjects, the points needed for most of the 600 honours degree courses have fallen or remain unchanged from 2004.

The National Parents Council - Post Primary helpline (1800 265 165) is open until Thursday for students and parents seeking assistance with queries about the CAO system.