Exceptional demand for UCD courses in CAO 2025 first round

27 August 2025

• UCD had a 9% increase in applicants seeking places
• CAO 2025 Round 1 marks the first time all its courses require over 400 points

Twenty-one undergraduate entry courses at University College Dublin have seen their points rise in this year’s (opens in a new window)first round CAO offers.

The biggest increase was seen in DN450 General Nursing, up 34 points to 444 from its first round offering of 410 points in 2024.

DN453 Mental Health Nursing and DN250 Agricultural Science also experienced similar increases, each up 33 and 32 points respectively over last year.

The UCD course with the highest required CAO points remains DN670 Economics and Finance at 625, the same as last year; followed by DN230 Actuarial and Financial Studies at 613, which also remains unchanged from 2024.

DN400 Medicine (Undergraduate Entry) is up to 738. This course’s points and allocation of places are based on a combination of the Leaving Cert Examination and HPAT-Ireland score.

The undergraduate courses with the most increase in first preference demand were DN425 Sports, Health and Exercise Science and DN410 Radiography, with first choice preferences for both increasing by over 40%.

The CAO 2025 Round 1 offering marks the first time that all UCD courses require over 400 entry points.

"Demand across our undergraduate programmes has been exceptionally strong with UCD continuing to be the most sought after university in the country among Irish school leavers ” said UCD Registrar and Deputy President, (opens in a new window)Professor Colin Scott.

“This growing demand has pushed up the points for many of our courses, including significant jumps for Agriculture, Social Sciences and General Nursing. It is helpful for student applicants that we could offer an additional 30 places in Radiography."

“We continue to diversify entry to our undergraduate programmes, whilst also meeting the preferences of very large numbers of students through the CAO,” added Professor Scott.

_{* DN440 Biomedical, Health and Life Sciences, is a random selection for this first CAO round}

University College Dublin now has 37 undergraduate entry routes, alongside three graduate entry options in professional healthcare - DN301 Veterinary Medicine (Graduate Entry), DN401 Medicine (Graduate Entry), and DN411 Radiography (Graduate Entry).

Over 10,700 CAO students chose UCD as their first preference this year, accounting for 13% of the total number of 1st preferences through the CAO.

UCD’s share of the total number of CAO applicants was 34.9% for Level 8 courses and, overall, the University saw an increase of 9% in applicants seeking places for 2025.

UCD had 28,758 CAO applicants this year compared to 26,376 last year.

Over 600 students received earlier offers through CAO through entry routes including mature applicants, Open Learning students and QQI-FET candidates who have completed courses in further education. This figure is an increase over previous years.

A further 600 offers were made in Round 1 to students through the HEAR and DARE schemes. 

Offers were also made to students from the UK and EU who also apply through the CAO.

Only a single UCD undergraduate course, DN440 Biomedical, Health and Life Sciences, is a random selection for this first CAO round.

The University holds induction events for incoming students in the week prior to the commencement of lectures. This involves registration, academic advisory, social and orientation meetings.

Lectures start in the 2nd week of September with orientation during the first week.

By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: (opens in a new window)newsdesk@ucd.ie