Unemployed graduates are fast becoming an endangered species. For 1996 graduates, a booming economy translated into unemployment levels of 3.6 per cent, the lowest level in 15 years.
The better qualified you are, the more likely you are to secure employment. For Leaving Cert students, the worry is that they will be excluded from this golden circle.
Each year, students worry about the difficulties of securing a college place as demand continually outstrips supply. Last year, there was roughly one place for every two applicants.
This year, the Department of Education estimates that 62,000 school-based students will sit the Leaving Certificate. An additional 3,000 to 4,000 external candidates can also be expected. This is similar to last year's figures (the CAO received 62,600 applications in 1997) and, while the number of college places may increase slightly, roughly the same ratio - one place for every two applicants - can be expected.
Of course, generalisations are of little value. As we saw in yesterday's column, there were a number of courses which experienced difficulty in filling their quota of students last year. At the same time, there were 21 courses where demand far exceeded supply and points soared to 525 or beyond.
Just to get it in perspective, the "points" that everyone talks about are the cut-off level for a particular course. In effect, they are the points of the last student who secured a place on the course. So, a cut-off of 350 means that the last student who accepted a place had 350 points. His or her fellow students all have points equal to or above 350. It is possible that some students have 500 plus.
Points are set by the demand for a course - the number and quality of the applicants (as measured in points) versus the number of places. The points levels have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the course.
A look at last year's CAO statistics will give some idea of the competition for the various disciplines. The accompanying tables show how the chances of securing a place ranged from one-in-two for science/applied science degrees to a daunting one-in-30 for health care certificates and diplomas.
The first column shows the number of first-preference applicants for a particular course area. These are the applicants who put this course at the top of their course list on the CAO form. The second column shows the number of places available and the third column gives the ratio of first-preference applicants to the number of available places. This ratio is an indication of the relative difficulty of securing a place, as you would expect that all applicants would accept their first preference if they are made an offer.
You can see that students applying for degrees in business/administration had roughly a three-to-one chance of securing a place, compared with those looking for veterinary medicine where the odds went up to 10-toone. There were only 64 veterinary medicine places available compared with 3,535 in business/administration.
At certificate/diploma level, there were 10 applicants for every arts/social science place while there were 2.6 applicants for every engineering/technology place.
Medical, paramedical, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy are perennial favourites with school-leavers. The "caring" professions in particular attract droves of girls with high points. Law is also a favourite with school-leavers year in, year out.
The more traditional professions continue to exercise a strong fascination for young people. But students who are willing to look beyond these professions to less traditional courses can increase their chances of securing a college place. In fact, it is virtually possible to guarantee yourself a thirdlevel place. After you have listed your top nine choices in genuine order of preference (the course you want most should head the list, regardless of last year's points), you could choose a "banker" course - something you are fairly confident you can achieve.
For instance, some certificates last year took students with the basic five passes in the Leaving Cert. The advantage of doing this is that when it comes to early autumn you may not want to repeat the Leaving Cert and this could provide you with an alternative.
When you are perusing the college prospectuses in the search for courses and colleges, you should spend a little time studying the common-entry options. The advantage of opting for a general science or arts or business or engineering course is that you can sample various subjects before specialising. Of course, if you already know what you want to do, a direct-entry programme means that you can get to work in that particular discipline immediately.
Skills shortages: Each year, for the past five years, the number of college places has increased substantially. Last year, there were an estimated 33,750 third-level places on offer but this was increased by the Government Skills Shortages initiative which made extra places available in areas where there was greatest labour market demand. The target was to create 2,000 new third-level places - 250 in language courses in the regional technical colleges, 1,000 software degree places and 750 technician places.
This ambitious target was not met last year although an additional 653 students began software degrees and 510 began technician courses. It is expected that the additional places will come on stream this year.
On the net: A new Internet version of the CAO form was launched on December 15th, 1997. It offers a faster, more efficient alternative to the traditional paper form as well as a £3 discount on the standard £18 application fee.
This facility is open only to standard applicants and is designed to be used by schools. Each school is issued with a code.
The National Information Technology in Education Centre (NITEC), which maintains the Internet-based application system, hopes that, by 2000, 50 per cent of all applicants will apply electronically. However, no school will be forced to use it.
The NITEC website is at http:/ /nitec.dcu.ie/ cao. A new disk version of the software is included as part of the Qualifax careers guidance package, which is produced by the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.
NITEC can be contacted by conventional means by telephoning (01) 704 5558.
Additional research by Catherine Foley