Almost 30k Students Select Engineering & Trades Courses

Students across Ireland have received their CAO engineering and engineering trades course offers.

Statistics obtained by the Central Applications Office (CAO) in July 2022 show over 29,350 students placed engineering and engineering trades courses on their CAO preference sheet, with 4,690 students selecting engineering and engineering trades courses as their first preference.

Engineers Ireland has congratulated students with offers and encouraged those who have not obtained the required CAO points to actively consider apprenticeship opportunities.

Damien Owens, Interim Director General and Registrar at Engineers Ireland, said: "The apprenticeship system in Ireland has been restructured over the last 10 years and a number of reforms have taken place. Engineers Ireland has supported the development of new consortia-led apprenticeships which provide both academic learning and hands-on training and will provide students with excellent opportunities and career progression."


Following on from the 6% decrease in the numbers of Leaving Cert students sitting STEM subjects at higher level in 2022, Mr Owens also commented on the need for industry and academia to continue to work together to "to strengthen, support and nurture interest in STEM-related careers".

"Strong partnerships across industry, the education system and academia will be required to support and produce our future engineering talent who will play a key role in the continued development of critical infrastructure and economic development. Engineering is a problem-solving profession which influences all aspects of society. Our ongoing challenge is to ensure Ireland has the ready supply of engineering skills needed to deliver vital infrastructure and climate related projects. We need to encourage students to pursue careers in engineering so they can make a real impact on the world through applied scientific principles," Mr Owens added.

Mr Owens also encouraged all future engineering students to "commence their engineering career journey today by availing of free student membership of Engineers Ireland and becoming part of Engineers Ireland's 25,000 member-community".