There have been an additional 275 places for students created in courses at GMIT and NUI Galway this year due to the impact of calculated grades.
Thousands of students received their first round CAO offers on Friday as colleges and universities began filling places for the coming academic year.
This year, the Department of Education has provided 2,225 additional places in third level courses overall to help alleviate the impact of the calculated grades, which has resulted in record high results.
Galway Senator Aisling Dolan has said that Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has informed her that 190 of those extra places will be at NUIG, and 85 will be in GMIT.
“The Government funded these additional places to help ease the pressure on the CAO system,” Senator Dolan said.
“After so much upheaval, it is very welcome to see thousands more people will get a college place this year than last year.”
“In fact, more students will be admitted to college in the coming weeks than in any previous year”
NUI Galway has 43 additional spaces in Arts & Humanities, 53 in Business, 10 in Education, 62 in Engineering, 10 in Law, 6 in Nursing, and 6 in Medicine & Physical Health.
At the GMIT there are 32 new places in Medicine, 25 in Science, 10 in Engineering, and 18 new spots in Education.
Minister Harris said it had been an immensely difficult year for students and he hoped the additional places will alleviate some of the pressure.
“I do recognise the strong competition for places this year. I have worked with the sector to increase places to the greatest extent possible.”
“I welcome the fact that the proportion of applicants receiving an offer of one of their top three preferences is stable between years, despite this strong competition.”
For students considering their future now, Senator Dolan added that it is important to keep in mind that there are many further education options with the GRETB.
