Briain Kelly, 28 Aug
University of Galway has issued offers to 3,753 prospective students for
the 2024/25 academic year.
Following Round One of the Central Applications Office (CAO) process,
President of University of Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Deputy
President and Registrar Professor Peter McHugh acknowledge the effort and
achievement of the Leaving Certificate class of 2024, the vast majority of
whom were sitting state exams for the first time.
Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of University of Galway, said,
“Comhghairdeas to the Leaving Cert class of 2024 as they embark on the
next stage of their studies.”
“They have displayed good judgment in choosing University of Galway. They
can be assured that this and their experiences to date will stand them in
good stead as the next adventure begins at University of Galway.”
On the back of a fourth year in a row of significant demand for places in
third level education, University of Galway is offering 3,753 places for
first year undergraduate students.
University of Galway Deputy President and Registrar Professor Peter McHugh
said, “Each and every student who has navigated the post-primary years and
the Leaving Cert deserves a huge welcome from University of Galway.”
He singled out the “impact of the pandemic in their schooldays” on
incoming students, and promised a rich student experience on campus.
“Our admissions and registration team at the University of Galway is once
again doing stellar work to facilitate such huge numbers of students who
have applied to join us.”
!In that context, we also welcome the Government commitment to begin to
address the issue of inflated grades in the Leaving Cert.”
The following are some of the key trends following the issuing of Round
One offers in the CAO process:
• Cut-off levels for points for University of Galway degrees showed
mixed movement with almost a third of courses increasing points or
remaining steady.
• Some 40% of the University’s degree programmes are between the 500-600
points range.
• An increase of 41 points for Arts (Drama, Theatre and Performance
Studies) reflecting a significant increase in demand and University of
Galway’s continued reputation as an international centre for the
creative arts, as well as the value of our strategic education
partnerships with Galway International Arts Festival and Druid.
• Some of University of Galway’s programmes that offer extensive Erasmus
opportunities saw an increase in points; BA Global Languages, BComm
International (Spanish) and BSc Biotechnology.
• All Engineering and Law programmes continue to cut-off at 500 CAO
points or above.
• Flagship programmes for University of Galway which continue to attract
strong demand are Biomedical Engineering, with points increasing to
578 (up 30), and Biomedical Science, at 577 (up 10 points).
• Medicine remains random allocation at 728 points.
• The number of places available for students seeking to study
Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy degrees are up by
almost 50% – that is an additional 30 places across the two
programmes, which follows a Government announcement of increased
funding in these areas.
• Five out of eight Commerce programmes require more than 500 points.