Drop in top Leaving Cert scores may limit points race

A slight drop in the number of students with top Leaving Certificate points scores could limit point rises in a number of high-calibre college courses.

More than 70,000 students are hoping to get one of around 52,000 college offers being made by the Central Applications Office (CAO) on Monday, including more than 47,000 applicants who got their exam results on Wednesday.

Although less than one in ten of them secured 500 or more out of a maximum 600 points in the CAO system, before any bonus for higher-level maths is added, official figures show their numbers are down on last year. This feat was achieved by 5,497 students this week, 149 fewer than last year, while the numbers with 400 points or more are down by about 50 to 19,693.