CAO points for this year's Leaving Certificate students could fall to their lowest-ever level for a very large number of courses, according to career experts. Seán Flynn, Education Editor, reports.
As over 50,000 students prepare to submit their CAO application this month, there appears to be virtually no prospect that points levels will increase for the vast majority of courses.
With colleges struggling to fill places, new figures show how many are "rebranding " existing courses in major areas like arts, business and science and offering them as "new choices" in order to attract high-flying students.
The colleges do this by limiting the number of places on offer in these programmes to as few as 10, thus guaranteeing high points for the courses.
New figures show that only 16 of the 800-plus courses in the CAO system offer more than 180 places, while more than 170 courses offer 20 places or less to students.
The vast majority of these are often just subsections of existing major courses in arts, law, business and science.
According to Brian Mooney, former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, there is "no reason why these courses should have been created at all as the subjects offered are already available under the umbrella of arts, science or whatever. They are a marketing device used by the colleges to attract the best students."
Last night, John McGinnity, deputy registrar and admissions officer at NUI Maynooth, said he expected there would be no significant change in points levels from last year. "Certain disciplines could change to reflect student demand but the overall picture will not significantly change from 2006."
Last year, the points level for the largest undergraduate course in the State - Arts at UCD - fell to 350 points for the first time.