College points go up with demand for science courses

The demand for science courses has led to an increase in the points required for science related courses at the two third level colleges in Galway City.

The Medical Science course in the Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) saw a jump of 25 points on last year while almost most of the science related courses on offer in NUI Galway increased their points requirements.

But the biggest increase in points for Galway courses was 60 for for the Irish language media Arts course at NUI Galway and the Construction Economics and Quantity Surveying course (Level 7) at GMIT, up 55 points.

The majority of the other courses on offer at NUIG maintained or increased their points on last year and GMIT has made 30% more offers at honours degree level this year compared to last year.

Almost 3,000 students who sat the Leaving Certificate in Galway city and county this summer received their results on Wednesday.

NUI Galway’s Admission Officer, Stephen O’Dea, said: ‘For the second year running, NUI Galway’s courses in Commerce and Law have seen a steady increase in their points indicating a continued growth in interest in these areas. International Commerce programmes remain popular and this year, our new course, Commerce with Gaeilge, has performed particularly well (420 points), offering students a unique pathway into business and teaching.

“Science courses are also on an upward trend. NUI Galway’s strength and reputation in Biosciences is also reflected with Biomedical Science (540) continuing to perform well and Biopharmaceutical Chemistry increasing to 510 points. Physics also increased by 20 points this year to 420. Engineering courses continue to perform well with NUI Galway’s market focused Biomedical Engineering increasing to 420 points.”

Reflecting CAO trends in 2013, demand is also strong for Agriculture, Mechanical Engineering, Construction and Nursing programmes in GMIT.

Points for the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Medical Science increased by 25, from 410 to 435. It is one of only three such programmes offered in the State recognised by the Academy of Medical Laboratory Science, enabling graduates to practice as medical students in hospitals.

Points also increased for the B. Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, from 315 to 330 points. This continues to be one of the high demand programmes in the GMIT campus.

GMIT Registrar Michael Hannon says points decreased for a number of science based programmes: “Catering to a spike in demand from Leaving Cert students for honours programmes in GMIT, we reduced CAO points on some of our level 8 offerings such as the Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology, the B.Sc (Hons) in Applied Biology and Biopharmaceutical Science and our general entry Science degree.”

Read more in this week’s Connacht Sentinel