With the Central Applications Office (CAO) opening for applications this week, November 5, it’s a good time to take a look at courses which will be available for the first time in 2025.
Some of these new courses will provide extra places on high-demand health related programmes such as Pharmacy, Dentistry, Veterinary and Medicine.
Others offer new opportunities for teacher education in popular areas such as Physical Education (PE) and Home Economics.
Among others there are new Arts, Humanities, Computing, and Hospitably related courses also.
More courses are expected to be added throughout the year. Regular updates will be posted here https://www.instagram.com/goldstarcareers/ as these come on stream.
Due to a combination of high demand and limited places CAO points for many medical related programmes are very high, resulting in many students seeking places abroad.
The recent announcement of increased places in such courses was warmly welcomed, particularly the doubling of places in Pharmacy.
Up until now Pharmacy was offered in only three places in the Republic of Ireland, University College Cork (UCC), Trinity College Dublin and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), with CAO points reaching 613, 601 and 613 respectively.
Now it will also be available at Atlantic Technological University (Sligo), 36 places; South East Technological University (Waterford), 40 places; and University of Galway, 40 places in year one and 75 extra places from year two.
The start date for Galway has not yet been confirmed, but they hoping to be ready for the September 2025 intake.
Studying Dentistry in Ireland up until now was limited to Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork (UCC), with 2024 CAO points hitting 625 and 618 respectively. From September 2025 RCSI will offer 20 places on a new Dentistry programme.
Veterinary Medicine course options were similarly limited, only available to 80 students at University College Dublin (UCD) each year.
A further 80 places will be provided by South East Technological University (SETU) and Atlantic Technological University (ATU).
Start dates have not been confirmed but with both universities actively working towards accreditation from the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI), it is hoped that some of these places will come on stream in September 2025.
A new undergraduate Medicine course will be offered at University of limerick (UL) and a Graduate Entry Medicine programme has been announced for University of Galway. Start dates have not yet been confirmed.
The new Munster Technological University (MTU), Kerry course, Digital Health and Infomatics for Healthcare, will be of interest to students seeking to pursue a career in the digital health technologies sector.
It is a combined degree in science and computing, involving Bioscience, Health Studies and Data Science. https://www.mtu.ie/courses/mt815/
Other new tech related courses such as Game Design at IADT https://iadt.ie/courses/game-design/ and Software Development with Cyber Security at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone, should also spark interest for those wishing to pursue careers in ICT.
Courses offering a direct route to post-primary teaching have grown in popularity in recent years, primarily because they eliminate the need to do an additional two-year Professional Master of Education (PME) course in order to qualify to teach.
A new offering in this area – Bachelor of Education in Home Economics and Technology is bound to attract a lot of interest. Not only is it unique in its’ subject combination, but also in its’ mode of delivery.
The first two years are spent at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone and the last two at Dublin City University (DCU). https://www.dcu.ie/courses/undergraduate/institute-education/bachelor-education-home-economics-and-technology-post
Places offering a direct route to Physical Education (PE) teaching are also in high demand.
While no direct route course has been added, the addition of two PE related courses for 2025 at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) will be very welcome, Physical Education Studies will be offered in Athlone https://tus.ie/courses/us933/ and Physical Education with Business in Limerick https://tus.ie/courses/us934/.
Upon completion of these degrees students may apply for the Professional Masters in Education (PME) to become a post-primary teacher, or they can pursue other areas of further study or employment.
Other new courses attracting a lot of interest are Bachelor of Arts Professional Pathways at University of Limerick (UL) https://www.ul.ie/courses/bachelor-of-arts-professional-pathways and BA in Creative Writing and English at Maynooth University. https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/undergraduate-studies/courses/ba-creative-writing-and-english.
Not all the new CAO courses are listed here, but hopefully those that I have highlighted will merit further exploration for many students and parents.
Follow me on Instagram for regular updates https://www.instagram.com/goldstarcareers/.
Gold Star Careers offers one-to-one or small group career advice, in-person or online, to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. See www.goldsarcareers.ie for more information.
SEE ALSO – Check out all of Martina’s columns here
