More than 43,000 apply for college courses ahead of deadline

MORE than 43,000 people have already applied for college courses ahead of the February 1 deadline.

Although figures are not available to show how many are adults who seeking to improve their qualifications after being made redundant, the numbers are much higher than at this time last year.

Those who applied online to the Central Applications Office (CAO) by Monday evening’s deadline totalled 43,051, compared to just over 36,000 at the same period in 2008.