As the CAO offers go out today to students across the country, Dublin City University’s admin team will be very busy indeed. DCU is offering a whopping 3,418 places to students. This is an increase on last year’s figures despite a national drop of almost 3% in applications to universities. Points for degrees at DCU have remained stable, with courses in STEM, Education, Business and Sport exhibiting the highest points.
Shifts in Application Trends
While points for the majority of courses have remained steady, there have been notable increases in a number of degree programmes across the DCU Faculties. For example,
● Entry points for PE with Biology increased by 24 points to 511.
● The BSc in Data Science (Ireland’s only data science degree) increased by 22 points to 476.
● The Post-Primary Teacher Education degree in Religion and History increased by 23 points to 373.
● The BA in Social Sciences and Cultural Innovation increased by 10 points to 366 despite offering a doubling of the number of places offered on the programme!
Degrees at DCU
Overall, the Bachelor of Education (BEd) Primary teaching degree remains hugely popular, with more than 2000 students placing this in their top-three preferences and over 900 making it their number one preference. DCU made 431 offers to students seeking places on this programme.
Similarly, applications for General Nursing are also very strong, with almost 1000 students placing it among their top three choices, reflecting the employment opportunities available in the profession. 64 students received offers for this programme.
The Joint Honours Humanities programme is also a strong performer, with 740 students placing it in their top three preferences.
The increasing popularity of DCU programme offerings is best reflected in the high applications-to-places ratios across a broad range of programmes: For example,
● In the Children’s and General Nursing Integrated degree programme, there were 19 applications for every place offered*
● In General Nursing the ratio was 16:1
● In Global Business (Transatlantic) and Global Business (Canada) the ratio was 14:1
● In Psychology it was 12:1
● In Athletics Therapy and Training it was 11.5:1
● In Sports Science it was 10:1
Maths and Business degrees remain the highest points courses at DCU, with Global Business Transatlantic at 578), Global Business Canada at 565, Financial and Actuarial Maths at 520 and Maths-Common Entry at 509, followed by Global Business (Spanish) at 499 in the top-five highest points category.
Response
The President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian MacCraith said: ‘This year’s applications to DCU have remained consistently strong and we are pleased to have increased our numbers of offers in spite of a national drop in applications to universities. We found strong demand for our offerings in the areas of STEM, Business, Education, and Humanities. These areas have an enduring popularity among students because of the quality of the offering and also the national and global employment opportunities they provide. The high points for degrees with an international dimension (e.g. the Global Business suite of degrees) provide clear evidence that students are thinking globally. The influence of employment prospects and career purpose on students’ choices is also reflected strongly in the huge interest in degree programmes in areas such as teaching and nursing.’
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