PROBLEM: I am preparing to sit my Leaving Cert in June and have filled in my CAO application. The Irish Times reported recently about a record high number of CAO applications this year, which could lead to an increase in points for college courses. I am hoping to get a place in DCU's global business and German course, which requires about 465 points. There are only 15 places in the course. Should I be worried about a jump in points? And when will the CAO release new points levels for courses?

ADVICE: Your perception that points are set by the CAO or by any other body is commonly held but wrong. Colleges and specific departments within universities and ITs set minimum entry requirement for every course, which are all listed on the qualifax.ie website.

In relation to your preferred university, DCU’s general entry requirements are a grade C3 in two higher-level subjects, and grade D3 in four ordinary- or higher-level subjects, including mathematics and English or Irish.

The specific entry requirements for DCU’s global business and German programme are an ordinary C3 or higher D3 in maths and a higher C3 in German.

Once you and all the other aspiring students who want to secure a place on this programme have met all of the above entry requirements, you will be placed on a list of approved students for entry on to this course.

You correctly point out that there are only 15 places on this course. What the published points of 465 reveal is that the 15th and last person to secure a place on the programme in September 2015 had 465 CAO points.

The other 14 successful applicants almost certainly had higher points. I say “almost certainly”, because it is possible that one or two applicants who had less than 465 points secured a place on the course through access schemes for people with disabilities or those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The number of applicants applying for places on all courses in the CAO system will increase this year, and every year, for the next decade. That is because there has been a population increase of about 2,000 children every year since the turn of the century. This will now be reflected in those sitting the Leaving Cert for many years to come.

Because of cutbacks in state funding of undergraduate education, colleges do not have the capacity to expand the number of places to meet the growing demand. Therefore, DCU might not be able to offer more than 15 places, which could well mean that the 15th person to secure a place on the course in 2016 will have a higher points score than 465.

With a recovery taking place in the Irish and international economy, the overall popularity of business programmes has been rising in the past year and will continue to do so in 2016. This trend will lead to greater numbers of applicants seeking a fixed number of places on business courses across the country, which will inevitably push up points.

We will know more about trends in this year’s points requirements in the middle of July when the CAO releases two important pieces of information: the total number of applicants for each discipline (arts, science, business and so on) and the final number of overall applicants this year.

These are the two factors that drive the direction of points every year, and not the actions of any individual in a college or CAO office.

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