Approximately one in 10 CAO students picked Trinity as their first choice this year, while there was a slight drop in CAO applicants overall.
According to preliminary data, 9,312 students had Trinity as their first choice on the CAO by the first application deadline on February 1, representing 12.1% of all CAO applicants. This also represented a 1.5% drop from 2023 and comes as overall CAO applications dropped by 1.44% to 76,899.
Overall, 20,061 students applied to Level 8 courses at Trinity, representing 26% of the total number of applications submitted to CAO.
Ancient and medieval history and culture saw the biggest increase with an 89% rise in first choice applicants.
Children’s nursing also saw an 82% increase in first choices.
There was also an significant uptake in first choice applicants to joint honour courses with joint honours law, politics and social policy facing increases of 11%, 8% and 16% respectively.
For the second year running, first choice preferences for medicine in Trinity fell with a 5% decrease in first choice applications from 2023.
Chemistry saw a 43% increase in first choice preferences this year, while deaf studies saw a 42% increase in CAO applicants choosing the course first.
Other notable increases in first choices on the CAO include music education (40%), dental science (29%) and computer science and a language (27%).
Vice-Provost Orla Shiels said College is “delighted to see so many applicants select Trinity as their preferred place to study, especially in a changing landscape when there are so many opportunities available to them as they leave secondary school”.
“We are proud to have maintained our share of the total number of applications to the CAO,” she said.
Although the CAO applications closing date was February 1, a late application facility opened on March 5 and will close on May 5, allowing students to apply.
A change of mind facility will be available from May 7 to July 1 to allow students to change their CAO list following the Leaving Certificate examinations.
The Trinity College Spring Open Day will also be taking place on March 23 for prospective students.
Shiels said the open day is “an opportunity to really get a taste of campus life”.
