Engineers Ireland, the professional membership body for engineers in Ireland, has offered its congratulations to students in receipt of CAO engineering and engineering trades course offers and encouraged students who have not obtained the required CAO points to actively consider apprenticeship opportunities.
Continued demand for engineering courses
"According to statistics reported by the Central Applications Office (CAO) in July 2022, more than 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. Therefore, with a continued demand for engineering courses at third level and following today’s first round offers, we would urge students who have not obtained the required CAO points or who have not followed the traditional CAO pathway to consider apprenticeships and other skills-based training,” said Damien Owens, interim director general and registrar at Engineers Ireland.
“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,” said Owens.
Following on from the 6% decrease in the numbers of Leaving Cert students sitting STEM subjects at higher level in 2022, 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.
'Influences all aspects of society'
"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.”
Owens 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".
Third-level students can sign up for free student membership today by visiting: https://www.engineersireland.ie/Students/Student-Membership/Welcome-to-engineering
Further information on engineering apprenticeships can also be located here: https://www.engineersireland.ie/Professionals/Membership/Become-a-member/Membership-types/Engineering-apprenticeships