Thousands of Leaving Certificate students found out today whether they had secured a place on the third-level course of their choice.
The entry bar has been lowered for applications to a wide range of faculties but the points needed for courses in medicine remain high.
It is the first time in recent years that points for a large amount of courses have dropped. And where points have not gone down, in many cases they have remained at last year's levels.
The points requirement for Arts courses is down; the points level for Science is also down. The requirement for other popular choices such as nursing and primary school teaching has also dropped.
All this is largely because there are fewer students sitting the Leaving Certificate.
Points in many of the traditionally high-scoring areas have stayed high and in some cases they have risen.
The points for medicine have not gone up but they are still at last year's record levels - between 590 and 570 points.
Click here for the CAO Points Tables 2006.
