Points for third-level courses are set to drop sharply this year across a range of areas as the number of pupils taking the Leaving Cert declines further.
There are estimated to be about 2,000 fewer school-leavers taking the exam this year than last year's 58,388.
This is expected to put downward pressure on points, according to admissions officers in many colleges.
While the number of school-leavers is shrinking, the number of places is rising, with about 500 to 1,000 extra this year.
Points for courses such as medicine, science and computers fell considerably at university level last year, while those for a range of courses at the institutes of technology (ITs) also tumbled.
This year already 11 courses have been cancelled. They are in the areas of science, business studies, languages and hotel and catering. All 11 are certificate courses at the institutes of technology.
Colleges are hoping to replace school-leavers with mature learners and, while Government policy strongly favours lifelong learning, mature students are not as widely available as colleges would like.
The success of the economy in recent years has drastically reduced the number of mature students. The performance of students in the exam also has a bearing on the final outcome.
If this year's group perform strongly overall this could still push points up. Last year points in areas such as engineering and business still rose significantly.
The Department of Education is finalising the figures for this year, and most attention will be on whether science courses are still declining.
The large increase in entries to the Young Scientist competition this year, however, has led to optimism that things have improved.
February 1st is the deadline for CAO entries. Students are being encouraged to apply online at the CAO's website, www.cao.ie
They can still make a paper application, but this costs 30 euro, 10 euro more than the electronic option.
Students are allowed to use a "change of mind" facility until July, if they want to alter their selection of courses.