TCD Sees 5% Increase in First Preference CAO Applications for 2012
Posted on: 09 March 2012
First preference applications to Trinity College Dublin are up by 5% for 2012. The increase in applications represents the fifth successive year in which first preference applications to Trinity College have increased.
A total of 18,887 students have applied to Trinity College representing 26% of the total number of applications to the CAO.
The trend towards courses in the area of Science and Technology has continued into 2012 with most courses in these areas showing very significant increases in first preference applications.
Trinity’s School of Mathematics, which is currently ranked 15th in the world (QS), has attracted a record number of applicants this year. First preference applications are up by 80% and overall applications by 17%.
The majority of Arts courses remain heavily oversubscribed, but there has been a decline in applications to some courses.
Trinity’s Two Subject Moderatorship Course that allows students to do a joint honours degree in two subjects (from a selection of 25 across a range of disciplines) has bucked the trend with a 9% increase in first preferences and an 8% increase in overall applications.
TCD Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast welcomed the increased demand by prospective students to Trinity: “It demonstrates the quality and diversity of courses offered by the College in its rounded undergraduate education.”
Arts, Humanities and Social Science
– For the first time in five years CAO applications to Law have increased. This is reflected in the 25% increase in first preference applications to Law in Trinity College.
– As mentioned above applications to the Two Subject Moderatorship range of courses have increased with subjects such as Mathematics, German, Russian and Economics showing marked increases – ranging from +27% to +94%.
– Applications for Business, Economic and Social Studies (BESS), a course offering 10 degree options, continue to be strong, while first preference applications for some Business and a Language courses had remarkable increases in 1st preference applications (German +50%; Spanish +60%).
Engineering, Mathematics and Science
– The high level of demand for Trinity’s Science course has continued in 2012 with a 13% increase in first preference applications and a 9% increase in overall application numbers. This general entry course is very popular due to the wide range of subject and module choices, and the variety of career possibilities available upon graduation.
– Other science courses which attracted substantial increases in first preference applications include Medicine Chemistry (+48%); Earth Science (+45%) and Nanoscience, Physics & Chemistry of Advanced Materials (+23%).
– First preference applications for the Integrated Engineering programme have increased by 19%, with total applications up by 14%.
– Applications for Computer Science continue to rise. First preference applications are up 28% in 2012 and show an overall increase of 45% since 2010. First preference applications to Computer Science and Business are up 21%.
Health Sciences
– Applications for Medicine continue to rise with total applications up by 5% while first preference applications to Dental Science have increased by 12%.
– In the School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies first preference applications for the majority of the nursing disciplines have increased (General nursing (+15%); Psychiatric nursing (+35%); Intellectual Disability nursing (+17%) and Midwifery (+15%).
Applications from Northern Ireland and the UK
– The introduction of tuition fees for universities resulted in more students from Northern Ireland and the UK considering Irish universities as an option when making their applications. This has resulted in Trinity College Dublin receiving an additional 259 applications from students in these jurisdictions. Overall, applicants from Northern Ireland and the UK represent 9% of the total number of applicants to Trinity College Dublin.