Ag science decline continues as concerns heighten

Although there are plenty of opportunities in the agricultural sector with companies still struggling to find qualified and skilled employees, the negativity surrounding the future of the industry has hit students with a drop in the number of those who sat the Leaving Certificate ag science exam, and a fall in CAO course points.

The number of Leaving Cert students selecting agriculture as their first preference for Level 8 courses in college is down by 16%. Round one offers for agriculture courses is also down 11%, according to the Central Applications Office (CAO).

Table 1 shows the CAO points required to study agricultural science for Level 8 courses and they have dropped for most colleges in round one offers. The highest points required to do a Level 8 Agriculture degree is in University College Cork (UCC) at 446 points, which dropped from 496 in 2023.

University of Galway (NUIG) points dropped by 14 points to 409, University College Dublin (UCD) stayed the same at 400 and South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford dropped 3 points to 379.

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) was the only university that saw points go up this year with an increase of 16 for 2024.

For students looking to get into these courses, it is good news as it means they were more likely to secure a place, but it does pose a question on whether they will be able for the degree as current college students have seen an increase in the number of peers failing modules.

Along with this, other interdisciplinary courses for agriculture including Sustainable Farm Management and Agribusiness in SETU and Agriculture and Environmental Management in ATU points went down slightly. However, Agriculture Engineering at MTU saw an increase.

What do the experts think?

Eleanor Kent, Head of Department of Land Sciences, SETU says, “We are delighted that the points for our Level 8 BSc (H) in Agricultural Science has remained stable with a minimal drop of 3 points while our Level 7 BSc in Agriculture has increased by 17 points. The reputation of SETU in land science education is reflected in a strong demand for our programmes again this year.

“We are aware of students with over 500 points who have missed out on Veterinary Medicine and have opted to do Agricultural Science here in Waterford, where much of the practical skills take place in Kildalton Agricultural College.”

Dr Siobhan Jordan, Head of Department of Agriculture, Food and Animal Health in DkIT says, “We are delighted to see an increase in demand for our agriculture course. Students have consistently highlighted financial pressures as a concern for progressing in our course.

"Last year we concentrated our first year agriculture timetable into four days per week, to try reduce the impact of travel and accommodation costs on students. This is something we are going to continue going forward as we have received really positive feedback from our students.”

Level 6/7

In table 2, there is a big fluctuation between Level 6/7 courses.

ATU went up by 26 and SETU went up by 17 for agriculture while MTU dropped by 42 and Sustainable Farm Management and Agribusiness in SETU also dropped by 30 points.

Horticulture saw a decline of 40 for SETU Waterford while the Teagasc apprenticeships have seen a triple in intake for the incoming year.

Overall, Level 6/7 agriculture courses went down 15% in round one offers and 19% as first preferences.

Veterinary

There was a decline in the number of students selecting veterinary as their first preference this year by 11% while also declining by 11% for round one offers.

However, the CAO points required for undergraduate entry to veterinary medicine in UCD remain high for 2024 at 589 with not everyone achieving these results being offered a place.

The points for veterinary nursing in UCD went down to 499 points, compared to 518 in 2023. There is still no decision on the location of the new veterinary school with the number of places in UCD remaining the same this year.

Frustration felt by IASTA

It is no surprise that points and preferences across agriculture courses have seen a dip in numbers as the Irish Agriculture Science Teachers Association (IASTA) have raised concerns about the new course structure since its implementation in 2019.

A lot of teachers are finding they don’t have enough details in the specific learning outcomes required for the course. Previous articles by Irish Country Living at the start of the year stated the ‘disconnect’ between the syllabus and exam.

One thousand fewer students sat the Leaving Certificate agriculture science paper this year. In 2024, 5,501 students sat the Higher-Level paper while 917 students sat the Ordinary Level. In 2023, 6,132 students sat the Higher-Level paper and 1,328 sat the Ordinary Level paper.

This is the first time that the total number of students studying agriculture science for the Leaving Certificate has fallen below 7,000 (see table 2).

Although the number of students receiving a H1 in this year’s Leaving Certificate exam increased to 13.6%, it is still below the other science subjects. For biology it was 19%, chemistry 22% and physics 20.7%.

This means that students wanting to achieve higher marks and results in their exams are less likely to pick agriculture over the other science subjects as the number of H1s achieved is significantly lower.

Speaking about the results, Joe Corroon, Chairman of IASTA says, “It is disappointing to see the continued decline in overall numbers sitting the exam and for this to be occurring when overall numbers are increasing. Anecdotal evidence is that the current 6th years are even fewer again.

“This was flagged and there doesn’t seem to be the same concern amongst the depth and other bodies involved. NCCA is conducting a review of the course but it’s important that views of teachers and IASTA are considered.”

Available supports

The CAO has a facility to identify courses with available places, if students missed the deadline or made a mistake filling out their application.

To find out more visit: cao.ie/courses/vpl_courses.php.

Students had until 3 September to accept their offers. Round Two places are coming out on 9 September.

If you haven’t received the course you wanted don’t worry you might get it in the next round. There are many alternative pathways to a career within the agri-food industry. From PLC courses to land-based apprenticeships and ‘Green Certs’.

If there are students who didn’t get the points they were expecting or find college isn’t for them take a look at some of these websites with available support.

For other pathways and courses

For emotional support