More than 79,000 applications have been submitted to the CAO for courses this coming year.

It's up 6,200 on the previous year, or 8.5 percent.

There was also a 20 per cent rise in applications among those 23 and older, to 8,700.

Roisin O'Donohoe from the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, says there's likely a number of reasons for the increase this year:

"It may indicate an extra amount of applications from the Leaving Cert 2020 class who may be reapplying for the CAO course again for a second time. It may also reflect a number of students in college who have been remote learning for the last year re-evaluating their choices."

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