In an era of intense housing demand, college applications for subjects such as construction, engineering and architecture have all increased considerably in 2025.
Data published on Tuesday show large proportions of Leaving Certificate students will also be competing for courses in health subjects, veterinary science and law.
Conversely, interest in third-level courses for languages and information and communication technologies (ICT) has fallen away.
Overall, total application numbers for third-level places have risen considerably this year (up by 8.5 per cent to 83,424) following a fall (to 76,900) in 2024.
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The recently recorded figures are contained in 2025 application data from the Central Application Office (CAO).
The extent to which CAO entry points will rise or fall for individual courses depends on the supply and demand for places and the grades achieved by applicants.
The applications come in a year when Leaving Certificate results will be lower as grade inflation is finally tackled. Tens of thousands of students have received bumper grades in recent years.
Health degrees are again the most popular subjects in 2025 with almost 75,000 “mentions” among CAO applications. This is up on last year’s rate of 63,000, which itself had propelled the subject to the top of the pile in terms of interest.
The other more sought-after courses this year include business and administration (almost 55,500), which was also a strong subject last year. Arts degrees attracted more than 41,000 applications, while there is strong demand for social and behavioural science (almost 33,700), engineering (almost 28,000), and biological and related sciences (more than 24,800).
An increase in applications for honours (level eight) degrees this year is weighted towards maths and statistics (up 20 per cent on 2024 rates), law, engineering and health (each up 19 per cent), architecture and construction (up 17 per cent) and veterinary science (up 15 per cent).
There was a fall-off in ICT courses (down 4 per cent at 22,000 applications) and languages, which were down 5 per cent (3,783).
In the area of health studies, school leavers applying for degrees in medicine have increased by 4 per cent to 14,356. Dentistry and related subject applications had a 76 per cent surge this year to 2,872. Nursery and midwifery, which are skills in high demand, also climbed by almost a quarter on last year (23 per cent), surpassing 30,000 applications.
In a year when overall applications for level eight honours degree courses are up, the Department of Education’s move toward reducing grade inflation means this year’s students will be at a disadvantage when competing for college places against applicants with inflated results from previous years.
Although a postmarking adjustment will artificially inflate this year’s exam results by 5.5 per cent on average, this is lower than the 7.5 per cent adjustments seen in recent exams.
The Irish Times has previously reported officials are concerned about the potential for litigation among students who could miss out on sought-after college places due to being disadvantaged as a result of the changes.
