The Central Applications Office (CAO) has released 2025 application data up to the change of course choices closing date of 1 March.

There has been a 5% increase in the number of students selecting Level 8 courses in agriculture as their first preference on this year’s CAO compared with last year.

Along with this, the number of total mentions for agriculture courses has increased from 1,595 in 2024 to 1,668 in this year’s application.

This represents a 5% increase in students who showed an interest in studying agriculture at third level across their CAO application.

This trend is continuing for the Level 6 and 7 courses, with a 6% increase in the number of students selecting it as their first preference and a 9% increase in the total mentions.

Veterinary preferences

Veterinary has also seen a jump in popularity among this year’s cohort, as 7% more students have selected it as their first preference this year compared with 2024.

Along with that, 15% more students have selected a veterinary Level 8 degree across their whole application for 2025.

Interdisciplinary programmes and qualifications involving agriculture, forestry and veterinary have also experienced a positive trend upwards, with 21% more students selecting these courses as a first preference.

There has also been an increase of 10% for veterinary Level 6 and 7 courses as a first preference.

In total, 83,424 applications were received by the CAO by the February closing date – an increase of 6,525 applicants on the previous year (8.5%).

The data shows applications by course classification, course level and by applicant address.