Disabled or disadvantaged?

THE chances of entry to 16 colleges are boosted again this year for students with disabilities or from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

More than 1,800 people benefited last year under the DARE (Disability Access Route to Education) and HEAR (Higher Education Access Route) schemes, whose participants include all seven universities.

More than 1,000 of them were offered places through the CAO with points below the cut-off for other applicants, as the schemes take account of the barriers that disability and disadvantage can place in the way of Leaving Certificate performance for many students. However, almost half of them had achieved the minimum CAO points requirements in their applications regardless.