Ireland's college hopefuls are looking to make the most of the economic recovery.
This year's CAO application figures are showing another surge in demand for courses in areas like construction and engineering.
A record number of applications made it in time for the CAO's initial deadline this year.
The figure of 74,424 is up 2% on last year's figures.
A breakdown of the numbers shows a jump of 27.6% in the area of 'built environment' like construction and quantity surveying.
Architecture is up 15.8% and engineering and technology courses are up 9.3%.
Meanwhile the Institute of Guidance Counsellors is voicing concerns about the number of people who submitted an application but failed to list any courses on it.
It is linking the record 6,015 cases to falling career guidance support in many schools around the country.
People have until July the 1st to add courses or change their preferences.
Joe Humphreys, Education Correspondent with The Irish Times, spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about the statistics this morning.
He started by discussing how the points race is likely to be impacted by increasing application numbers:
Originally posted at 7.12am