There have been a number of dramatic dips and rises in the levels of points required for entry to courses at third-level institutions this year.
Points for degree courses were up in almost 20 cases in this year's first-round cut-off points, while they dropped for over 30 courses. Meanwhile, in the cert/diploma area, points were up in more than 20 courses but surprisingly were down in well over 80 courses.
Of courses in demand, engineering at UCD stands out as a course in which points dropped significantly. Points requirements fell from 440 in last year's first round to 385 this year.
Spanish at TCD, where points dropped from 450 to 345, was another example, with others including: maths at TCD down from 540 to 490; engineering at DIT 370 to 320; food-processing at UCC 360 to 270 and environmental science at NUI Galway from 445 * (random selection) to 410.
In the cert and diploma area, electronics technician at DIT fell by 150 points as did professional accountancy also at DIT and computing software development/German at Dundalk IT. Food technology and electronic and control engineering at DIT and computing with French at Carlow IT also fell by between 120 and 150 points.
The points needed for entry to third-level courses show a level of interest among students in courses which combine commerce or business with a European language. The cut-off points for courses in the first round of offers for places at third-level institutions shows that demand for these type of courses is high.
For example demand for a place on the mechanical engineering and German degree course at UL is such that the points have risen by 60 points on last year's 440. Also commerce with German at NUI Galway has gone up by 45 points compared to last year's first-round offer of a place to those who had 425.
Another interesting combination in this area to attract a high level of first-preference choices is business/Chinese (last year Japanese was offered) at TCD - this has risen by 65 points on last year's figure.
This rise in the level of interest among students in a degree which combines a language with another area is reflected in the points levels for some of the diploma courses, in particular courses at Letterkenny IT and at Dundalk IT.
First preferences for a course in hotel accommodation and a language at Galway-Mayo IT and marketing and German at Sligo IT has also risen this year.
A diploma course in photography at DIT and a graphic design diploma course at Sligo IT also show a significant rise in the number of points required for entry where assessment other that the Leaving Cert also applies.