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Significant increases in demand in areas of strategic national importance at DCU
Significant increases in demand in areas of strategic national importance at DCU

Significant increases in demand in areas of strategic national importance at DCU

Dublin City University, Ireland’s fastest growing university, will today make almost 3,400 first round CAO offer to students nationwide. The University has seen significant increases in demand in areas of strategic national importance, such as Global Business (especially in a post-Brexit environment), International Relations, STEM, and Education.

Demand has continued to increase for undergraduate degree programmes at DCU Business School, internationally accredited (AACSB) as one of the top 5% business schools globally. The business programmes which include opportunities for students to study abroad in partner universities have been particularly popular, with Global Business (Transatlantic) degree achieving the highest points (574).

DCU’s new Institute of Education, Ireland’s only Faculty of Education, has certainly struck a chord with students with over 700 offers made for teacher education degree programmes across the education spectrum, including 470 in primary teacher education.

DCU has also seen a significant uplift in demand for many of its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) degree programmes. A total of 162 places have been offered on DCU’s flagship Computer Applications programme this year with the number of offers being made up 20% on last year. Offers for Physics with Biomedical Sciences increased by 50 points from last year, an increase that is substantially above any change due to the new points system. The Actuarial Mathematics degree was not only one of DCU’s highest points programmes at 554 points but it also increased by 39 points since last year. The Mathematics (Common Entry) programme is at 520 points.

Interest in two new programmes at DCU this year has been strong. The BSc in Data Science will welcome its first cohort of students this September at 450 points. The first of its kind in Ireland, this programme was designed to meet industry demand for world-class graduates interested in a career in Big Data, data analytics and related data science roles.

Other key points 2017:

  • The number of places offered on DCU’s prestigious Sports Science and Health (500) programme doubles.
  • DCU’s International Relations programme has increased in popularity with points at 400 and with numbers increasing by over 25%.
  • Multimedia continues to be popular with the number of places on the programme increasing to 64 and points at 431.
  • The BA in Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance, which offers students the opportunity to transfer into the Berklee College of Music in Boston (one of the most prestigious music schools in the world), will welcome its first cohort of students this September.

Welcoming today’s announcements, DCU President, Professor Brian MacCraith said:

“I am delighted to see such strong demand for Dublin City University again this year. Students have been very strategic and insightful in their choices with big interest  demonstrated in very specific area across a diverse range of disciplines – including Business, International Relations, Computer Applications, Data Science, Mathematics, and Contemporary Music and Jazz.

While the new CAO Points system makes it difficult to compare points with previous years, our analysis indicates that any increase above 5% is statistically significant and we are delighted to see that many of our programmes are in that category.

At DCU our aim is to continuously deliver innovative programmes in areas that are relevant and responsive to emerging areas of employment. As such, we are particularly pleased to see this reflected in strong interest for our new BSc Data Science and across a range of STEM programmes.”