College entrant levels soar

By the end of last October, around 46,500 college places had been taken up in more than 40 colleges.

From early July, the Central Applications Office (CAO) begins making offers of places.

This early round is mostly made up of offers to overseas applicants needing to make visa arrangements, people who defer a place from a previous year, and applicants for places reserved on nursing courses for mature students.

In early August, other mature students, people applying to courses with places reserved for further education graduates and others not directly competing with school leavers may be offered places.

Between these two early rounds, around 7,000 places are filled each year, but the bulk of the CAO’s business begins after the Leaving Certificate results issue in mid-August.

Last year’s 76,000 applicants included 44,000 who took the Leaving Certificate in June.

The CAO Round 1 offers that issued after they got their exam results led to the filling of another 37,350 places on courses at levels 6, 7 and 8.

With the take-up of almost 2,000 more places in the next round by the second week of September, all but the last 2,000 places available in 2012 were taken.

The college courses filled through the CAO last year saw more than 33,000 entrants to level 8 (honours bachelor degree) courses and 13,000 more take up studies on courses in the level 6 (higher certificate) and 7 (ordinary bachelor degree) categories.

Apart from 2012 Leaving Certificate students, last year’s CAO applicants included 13,748 mature students (aged 23 or over) and almost 2,500 applicants from Northern Ireland and Britain.

The 76,000 who applied to CAO last year also included more than 20,000 people presenting further education qualifications.