Dublin City University saw a large growth in Education and Arts following today’s first round of CAO offers, while an increased demand in Business and STEM programmes has led to a soar in points.
Almost 650 offers were made to prospective students for undergraduate programmes in education at the newly established DCU Institute of Education.
This institute, the country’s first university faculty of education, was created through the DCU Incorporation Programme which combined St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra, Mater Dei Institute of Education and the Church of Ireland College of Education with DCU.
“I am delighted to see the continued growth in popularity for DCU programmes, and the university is pleased to make over 3,400 places available to prospective students today with the first round CAO offers,” said President of DCU, Professor Brian MacCraith.
“We are pleased to offer additional places to students across a range of undergraduate courses, particularly in Education and Arts, and that our new Institute of Education is now the largest centre for teacher education in the country.”
Educational programmes saw an increase in demand. Early Childhood Education and Post-Primary Education RE & English have both risen by 5 per cent from 380 points to 400 this year.
Demand for degree programmes at DCU Business School also continued to increase. A significant rise was seen in Business programmes which include options for students to study abroad in partner universities.
Global Business (Spain) rose by 15 points to 515; Global Business (USA) increased by 10 points to 590 and Global Business (Germany) rose by 5 points to 470. Accounting and Finance increased by 10 points to 475.
DCU Business School was recently accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) as being in the top 5 per cent of business schools globally.
There has been an increase in demand for places in Common Entry Science and Common Entry Engineering in DCU, mirroring an increase in popularity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses across the country.
“Our ongoing commitment to STEM career choices is evident by the increase in demand for a number of our Science and Engineering programmes while the demand for places at our internationally accredited Business School continues,” Professor Brian MacCraith said.
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has increased its places by more than 8 per cent, including almost 100 additional offers to prospective students for the distinctive options within the BA Joint Honours degree.
Other courses in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences that have seen increases in popularity are Communication Studies, up by 5.5 per cent to 445 points and Contemporary Culture and Society, up by 15 points to 345.
General Nursing saw a substantial increase in demand as well, rising by 20 points to 450, as result of a 10% overall increase in applications to nursing programmes in 2016.
A record number of 52,289 offers were made by the CAO today, following a record high in CAO applications, 80,887 up from 79,219 last year.
Prospective students have until 6:00am on Monday 29 August to accept their Round One offer. Round Two offers will be sent out at 6:00am on Thursday 1 September.
Hayley Halpin
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