2022 will be a difficult year for CAO applicants and colleges

In contrast, the first preference for medicine at the undergraduate level increased, but only by 1pc. Government and universities are is looking to increase the number of medical sites, but the effect of inflation input has been guaranteed by the Department of Education that random selection will almost certainly have to start over, while before 2020, Students Leaving Cert will remain locked.

That’s unfortunate and speaks to the need to ensure that next year’s school-level inflation doesn’t get pushed down the road again.

The good news stories are environmental science and the return of the arts, humanities, and languages. First preference for environmental courses increased by 35pc, definitely a sign of growing numbers desire to confront the challenges facing our planet.

The first hobby of art increased 6pc, humanities increased 4pc, art, design and media increased 7pc and languages ​​increased 17pc, a welcome development in a country that needs to raise the bar internationally beyond English-speaking countries.

The other big winners were physical science (5pc gain), computer (6pc), architecture (11pc) and dentistry (12pc).

A variety of popular disciplinary areas have seen a drop in first-priority applications. Agriculture is down 18%, a worrying statistic if it is replicated next year, especially in light of current discussions about food chains and self-sufficiency.

General health and wellbeing courses (including nursing) drop 11-12pc. Core teaching and pharmacy dropped 7 points, math 6 points, social and behavioral sciences 6 points, law 5 points, physical therapy 4 points and business 3 points.

Relatively unchanged from last year in terms of first priorities are a wide range of subjects, including veterinary science, biological science, high school teaching, engineering and journalism.

A small change, possibly the impact of the establishment of universities of technology, can be seen in the number of first level 8 priorities in the two main sections of the third degree field. First priority dropped 4 points in traditional universities but increased by 1 point in technology, although still more than double the number of Level 8 applicants to traditional universities (45,000 versus 19,000). ).

In contrast, tech institutions saw a 5pc drop in applications for Level 7/6 courses.

What has increased is the number of applicants who are still undecided on any courses. This has grown by 19pc to almost 7,000.

With these numbers in mind, 2022 promises to be a challenging year for candidates as well as organizations, but the biggest problem waiting for us could be logistics. The Department of Education recently said that due to the variety of accommodation operated by Covid, it is not likely that the Leave Cert results will be released on a typical mid-August date.

Last year, it looked like the same delay would be even worse but because of the intervention of the UK system and its deadlines for Irish applicants, rather than the needs of the country.

Around 60,000 young people will attend this year’s Leave Cert program, of which around 80pc have applied to CAO. Another 30,000 applicants have other qualifications but may also be left out, unable to find accommodation, unable to claim their place at high school and the semester itself may once again have to run appreciably. amazing, with the first year starting later than everyone else.

Leaving Cert does not exist separate from what comes after. Its bad timing needs to be fixed.

Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh is Chairman of the Council of CAO and Vice President and Registrar of NUI Galway