Increase in demand for STEM, Design and Agriculture programmes in GMIT

Monday, August 20, 2018 Press Office
Press Release

Interest in GMIT programmes remains the same as last year, this year’s CAO figures show, with increases in demand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related disciplines, as well as courses in Design and Agriculture.

“This is an excellent achievement when considered against a 5% drop in applications nationally”, says GMIT’s Registrar and Deputy President, Dr Michael Hannon.

“We are seeing increased demand in Engineering programmes, particularly our B.Eng (Hons) in Agricultural Engineering which we run in association with Mountbellew Agricultural College, and B.Eng (Hons) in Biomedical Engineering at our Dublin Road campus in Galway. This year students have the option of selecting a common engineering programme which affords them the opportunity of specialising in year two. We have common entry engineering routes at both ordinary (L7) and honours (L8) degree level and we expect a new class group at each level”.

“Interest remains strong for our two new science programmes, the B.Sc. (Hons) in Public Health Nutrition and the B.Sc. (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science. As an Institute strongly committed to the STEM disciplines the Institute welcomes the fact that the Science faculty is the largest in the Institute”.

“This year four programmes were re-instated at the Mayo campus in Castlebar. This proved to be the correct decision as viable programme groups are now predicted in the Heritage related area and in Sustainable Building Technology. However, to cater for reduced demand in the Business domain at Castlebar the Institute is offering one dedicated programme of Accounting and Financial Management. Over the years this programme has proved to be the most popular choice of students”. 

“Overall, GMIT has made the same number of offers this year (2018) compared to last year. When considered against a national decline this is in effect an increase in demand for GMIT programmes. There is continuing evidence of confidence returning to the construction sector with increased offers being made on a number of our construction related programmes in the School of Engineering.”

Leaving Certificate students who meet the minimum entry requirements and did not get an offer are encouraged to review a number of GMIT programmes on the ‘Vacant Places’ section of the CAO website. This option has proved popular in previous years for many students and is open to prospective students from Tuesday 21 August, 2018. For more information check out www.cao.ie  or www.gmit.ie/cao