BRIAN MOONEY'S ADVICE CENTRE:THE THIRD-LEVEL COLLEGE application season is upon us, and applicants can now go online and register their application for all courses offered through the CAO, commencing in September 2009. In this the first of a series of articles, I will attempt to support the almost 70,000 applicants who will apply for a third-level place this year.
A little known fact about the CAO application process is that a number of colleges offer places to applicants on reduced points, if they are deemed to meet certain criteria, such as having a disability or a specific learning difficulty. They do this because of the impact these difficulties may have on applicants in achieving the CAO points for their desired programme. Unfortunately, this facility only applies to applicants under 23 years of age.
What conditions qualify me to apply for a reduced point's entry requirement?
Students with a wide range of disabilities can apply, including students who:
• Have physical and mobility difficulties
• Are blind or vision impaired
• Are deaf or hard of hearing
• Experience significant mental health difficulties
• Have specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia
• Have ADD, ADHD or Aspergers' Syndrome
• Have significant ongoing health issues (eg epilepsy, chronic fatigue etc)
Which higher education institutions currently participate in this scheme?
The following colleges participate: IT Athlone, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, National College of Ireland, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin and the University of Limerick.
How do I apply to the supplementary admissions route?
1. Complete the standard CAO application form online by February 1st, 2009 (www.cao.ie)
2. You must disclose your disability or specific learning difficulty on the CAO online form by ticking the Disability/Specific Learning Difficulty Box.
3. You will then be directed to the separate online Supplementary Information Form, which will ask you to provide additional information about your disability or specific learning difficulty. The CAO can also forward you a hard/paper copy of this form to complete, if you prefer. You should return this form to the CAO by March 27th, 2009.
What information do I have to include in my application?
You must provide the following information:
• Details of disability or specific learning difficulty
• Supports provided in second-level education
• Possible supports required in higher education
• Verification from appropriate medical consultant (not a GP)
or for students with a specific learning difficulty:
• An educational psychologist's report undertaken within past three years i.e. (between February 1st, 2006 and February 1st , 2009)
TALKBACK...
I do not believe that this application process treats all applicants equally. Firstly the criteria for making a successful application are not very well known, and therefore a large number of the medical and psychological reports submitted in support of applicants are rejected, because the information provided did not fulfil the college's requirements as documentation is incomplete, inappropriate or insufficient.
My second misgiving is that there is currently no standardisation of how different colleges assess applications. Each college appoints a panel of experts to assess each individual applicant. This panel decides whether the applicant has been significantly disadvantaged in school due to their disability or specific learning difficulty.
Applicants who are deemed eligible through this process and satisfy matriculation and subject requirements are then eligible to complete for a quota of places, allocated by the participating institutions on a reduced point basis. Unfortunately, there are no readily available sources of information on the criteria each college uses in deciding the reduction in points requirement.
A third misgiving is that the colleges have introduced a new requirement for 2009 entry. Medical and psychologists' reports must now be no older than three years by February 1st in the year of application to the CAO. Up until 2008, report could be up to five years old, which enabled applicants who had been assessed free of charge by NEPS at the beginning of their second-level education to present this report.
This new requirement will result in many applicants who have a genuine qualifying condition not being able to apply because they cannot afford to pay the €600 plus that a new private assessment will cost.
