Longford students ready for college as CAO points drop for more than half of courses

And this year, more than half the courses offered in Irish universities and ITs have seen a drop in the number of points required due to a reduction in applications.

Despite this, points have risen in 40% of courses, including Business, Economic and Social Studies at Trinity College, which is up by ten points; Commerce at UCD is up by five, and the same course is up by seven at NUI Galway.

Students who applied for places in STEM-related courses will be happy to see a drop in points needed, with Trinity College, UCD and NUI Maynooth seeing a drop in required points for general science courses.

Points for Engineering courses in NUI Galway, UCD and Trinity College are down on last year, and Nursing and Teaching courses have also seen a drop.

These point drops are largely due to a decrease in the number of applications, which is a reverse of the trends seen in the last few years.

Students who received good news in the post this morning have until next Monday to accept their offers, but students who have not received their first offer are urged to remain calm and remember that there is still time.

Round two of CAO offers will be sent out on August 31.