College support urged for students with disabilities

Students with special needs should be given better supports on moving to college, but particularly on the transition to further education, researchers have recommended.

While there are targeted access programmes to increase numbers of students with disabilities and special needs at third level, they said there is no sector-wide approach in promoting access to further education. But even the DARE admissions system, which gives students with disabilities an extra chance at third-level access, was found to have some perceived barriers.

“This included difficulties with the requirement for a recent psycho-educational assessment for the student, such as limited availability of assessment professionals and additional costs, and a perception that the points reduction within the DARE scheme was insufficient to encourage students with special educational needs to apply for admission to higher education,” wrote the researchers.