This is a subscriber-only article
In total, 1,769 students have applied for level eight agricultural courses this year, according to the latest figures from the Central Applications Office (CAO). This represents an 8% decrease on 2019 figures.
A total of 372 put it as their first choice (down 5%), while 1,588 students applied for interdisciplinary courses involving agriculture, forestry and veterinary.
Green Cert drop
There was also a slight drop in students applying for the Green Cert.
Some 1,455 students have applied for level six and seven agricultural courses this year. This represents a 7% drop on 2019.
In total, 556 students put level six and seven agriculture as their first choice, 5% lower than last year.
Veterinary
There was a similar trend in the veterinary field, where the numbers applying for levels six to eight courses went down. Some 1,726 students applied for level eight veterinary, down 2% on last year.
Some 902 students placed level eight veterinary as their first choice.
Meanwhile, the level six and seven veterinary courses saw a 6% drop in total mentions (2,196) and a 7% fall in first preference choices (881).
Applications
Overall, the total number of CAO applications is down 0.1% on the previous year to 72,973.
There was a total of 7,273 applications from applicants over 23 years of age – down 560 (-7.1%) applications from 2019.
Some 7,252 applicants indicated that they wish to be considered for the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) – an increase of 276 (+4%) from last year.
A total of 11,066 applicants indicated that they wish to be considered for the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) – a decrease of 172 (-1.5%) from 2019.
Change of mind
Applicants will be permitted to use the change of mind facility when it opens on 5 May to add, remove or re-order course choices, which will result in changes to the figures released today.
The data provided at this stage is interim data and is subject to change when late applications are taken into account and when the change of mind facility closes on 1 July at 5.15pm.
SHARING OPTIONS: