Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 240: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason his Department has allowed the third level institutions to reduce the time period in which a psychological report produced by the National Educational Psychological Service is valid for consideration of student's disability can be used as a mechanism to lower the entry requirements into higher education; if this unfairly blocks access to higher level for those with poorer socioeconomic backgrounds because they can not afford a private assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40385/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The governing bodies of higher education institutions are, by statute, independently responsible for all decisions on their admissions criteria and processes. The Supplementary Admissions Route is a joint admissions initiative of twelve higher education institutions and the CAO . It facilitates access to third level for students who may have been educationally disadvantaged because of their disability and who may not gain the competitive CAO points for their course. The regulations governing the operation of the scheme are determined annually by the participating institutions in conjunction with the CAO.

In 2007 the institutions who administer the Supplementary Admissions Route agreed that from 2009, applicants with specific learning difficulties will be required to provide a psycho-educational assessment report that is no less than three years old . The basis for this decision to move from five to three years is to allow institutions to manage the process of allocating higher education places in as fair and transparent a manner as possible. It is generally accepted by those working in the area of disability support, for example the Psychological Association of Ireland, that the more recent a psycho-educational assessment is, the more useful it is in terms of conveying a student's likely support needs in higher education, including the need for concessions on normal entry requirements.

The majority of applicants to higher education with a disability receive a CAO offer through the normal route and do not require any points concessions. If an entrant to higher education has psycho-educational assessment which is older than that required for the purposes of the supplementary admissions route, this does not bar them from registering with the disability or access service. If those services are of the view that an updated psycho-educational assessment is required the service will assist the student in whatever way they can to get the new assessment.