Vol. 434 No. 2
52 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Education the number of 1993 Leaving Certificate students who applied to the CAO/CAS office for third level college entry; the number who have not received any offer; the way in which it is proposed to provide higher education for unsuccessful students; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
56 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Education the number of 1993 Leaving Certificate students who applied to the CAO/CAS office for third level college entry; the number who have not received any offer; the way in which it is proposed to provide higher education for unsuccessful students; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
105 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Education the number of 1993 Leaving Certificate students who applied to the CAO/CAS office for third level college entry; the number who have not received any offer; the way in which it is proposed to provide higher education for unsuccessful students; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 56 and 105 together. The total number of applicants to the CAO-CAS in 1993 was 57,325. To date a total of 41,483 applicants have received offers between rounds one, two, three and four. The process is ongoing and offers will continue to be made up to the end of this month. Therefore it is not possible at this stage, to give a definitive answer as to how many students will be offered places eventually this year. However it is worth noting that the number of applicants who have received offers so far this year, i.e. 41,483, is significantly above the total number of applicants who received offers last year i.e. 38,165.
It is also likely, based on patterns in previous years, that of the 57,325 applicants to the CAO-CAS some 7,000 will not have the minimum academic requirements for the courses for which they have applied. The final figure in this regard will not be available until the offers process has been completed. However, it does indicate that of a likely qualified pool of around 50,000 applicants, 41,483 have to date been offered places i.e. in excess of 80 per cent of eligible applicants have been offered third level places.
In terms of the provision of third level places it is important to emphasise that almost 40 per cent of the relevant age cohort now transfer to third level education compared to approximately 20 per cent in 1980, i.e. a doubling over a decade. In addition a further 20 per cent approximately go on to various post leaving certificate courses. These figures compare well with international figures available. This means that the vast majority of students are being offered the opportunity to proceed to further education, following the leaving certificate.
