Thousands of third-level applicants are finding out whether they have secured a place on the course of their choice.
For the third year running many programmes have seen a drop in points.
The points for courses related to the construction industry are in many cases emphatically down.
That includes architecture in many colleges, as well as courses such as engineering.
Interest in the high points health areas such as speech and language, and occupational therapies has also slackened, and the points for nursing in some instances have also dropped.
However the points requirement for teaching courses is up, reflecting strong interest in the profession among students.
Primary teaching continues to grow in popularity, with points up across the board.
The full list of first round offers is at RTÉ.ie/CAO and Aertel p740.
