August University of Galway extends welcome to more than 3,800 new students

University of Galway has issued offers to more than 3,800 new students for the 2025/26 academic year.  

 With Round One of the Central Applications Office (CAO) process underway, Interim President of University of Galway Professor Peter McHugh shared a message of congratulations to the Leaving Certificate class of 2025 for their efforts and achievements.

 With a record level of applications to the CAO in 2025, University of Galway is offering 3,871 places to first year undergraduate students. 

 Professor Peter McHugh, Interim President of University of Galway, said: “Each and every student who completed their school years this year deserves a very warm welcome, and the best of good wishes, for the next step on their journey - Comhghairdeas to the Leaving Cert class of 2025.

 “These students will no doubt recall the challenges of their school years, from the pandemic, to the state exams, to the questions posed by grade inflation. What they should always remember is the tremendous amount they have achieved already, and that they are now set on a path towards further development and achievement, and the opening up of exciting new horizons.

 “Our admissions team at the University of Galway is once again doing stellar work to facilitate such huge numbers of students, and we look forward to offering them the very best in education and an unrivalled student experience at the University.”

 Some of the key trends in undergraduate courses at University of Galway for the 2025/26 academic year are:

• Two thirds of courses have seen points increase.

• All major subject areas experienced this trend, with the largest jumps evident in flagship omnibus programmes in Arts, Science and Business - BA Joint Honours up 50 points; Bachelor of Science up 40; Bachelor of Commerce up 24 points - pointing to increased popularity in flexible programmes that offer opportunities to specialise later.

• As expected, Medicine is random allocation (728 points).

• Pharmacy (MPharm), a new 5 year undergrad course at University of Galway, is also random allocation (601 points), with 40 places on offer. The course will expand to offer 75 places in September 2026, responding to the need for qualified pharmacists nationally and the demand for the career.

• Reflecting the national trend in CAO applications for healthcare courses, many of University of Galway’s degrees in health and biosciences experienced strong growth - Biotechnology up 28 points; Biopharmaceutical Chemistry up 22; and a significant rise in points across all three nursing programmes.

• All Engineering programmes are above 500 points, emphasising the significance of sectors such as medtech in the region and strong career opportunities for graduates.

• Similar to the national trend of a 20% increase in CAO applications for Maths and Statistics courses, there has been an increase in the cut-off points for Mathematical Science up 32 points; Physics up 21 points; and Financial Mathematics and Economics up 36 points. These fields feed directly into high-demand careers in data analytics, AI and fintech.

• Environmental Science has seen the cut-off points level up by 35 to more than 400 while Marine Science and Earth and Ocean Science are also above 400 points.  

• BComm (Accounting) rose by 21 points, reflecting the opportunities amidst a well-documented shortfall of professionals in finance and audit sectors. Commerce with Gaeilge was up 33 points. 

• Courses linked to societal impact also showed increased demand - BA Government (Politics, Economics and Law) is up 61 points; Human Rights up 55 points; BA (Child, Youth and Family, Policy and Practice) up 51 points and all Law programmes continuing to cut off well over 500 CAO points, including Law and Human Rights, up 14 points.

 Ends