School leavers feel squeeze from mature students

INCREASED competition for third-level places has seen points rise across almost half of all courses offering entry to just under 48,500 people today.

Despite a 4% rise in overall applications, mostly accounted for by mature students and further education graduates, the numbers getting an offer are only 3.4% more than at this stage in the Central Applications Office (CAO) process last year.

The majority of almost 47,000 applicants receiving their first offer of a place this morning got Leaving Certificate results five days ago, with roughly one-in-six offers going to people with further education qualifications or with A-levels or school-leaving exam results from other countries.