Your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

I have been reading your column on the various options available through the CAO process. My daughter is sitting the Leaving Cert in June and has the same dreams and aspirations as all her fellow students. I am fearful she will not get the points required for her chosen courses because she has a physical disability, which has resulted in her having to spend periods receiving medical treatment, and so missing quite a lot of time in school and having great difficulty keeping up with her course work across all her subjects. Does the CAO have any facilities to take account of my daughter's circumstances, in determining whether she will be offered a place on one of her chosen courses next August?

Every student applying to go to college in Ireland must complete a CAO form, and every effort is made to ensure all students are treated with total equality. Once a student meets the college and course entry requirements, places are awarded strictly according to the points achieved by all candidates, in the Leaving Cert or its equivalent. Specifically because of the issues raised by you in your question, colleges are prepared to consider offering places to those who have not achieved the required points, which would put them automatically in line for the offer of a place. This route is aimed at students with disabilities and is known as non-standard entry.

When students fill in their CAO application form on paper or online they will see a question asking them whether they have a disability/specific learning difficulty. Although you don't have to tick this box, doing so is a means of letting an institution know that a student is interested in attending and giving them an opportunity to consider any support needs that student may have. It is extremely important to stress that indicating a student has a disability or specific learning difficulty will NOT impact negatively on their application.

Students who indicate a disability will receive a supplementary form from the CAO in March. The purpose of this is to provide them with the opportunity of being considered through a non-standard entry procedure, in colleges that offer such a system. Your daughter should complete this form and return it to the CAO. The CAO will forward complete forms to the colleges she has applied to. Colleges will then contact her directly if they wish to consider her for non-standard entry.

Non-standard entry takes into account difficulties any student may have encountered because of a disability during their education. They will be asked to provide medical information regarding their disability, along with information on the kind of difficulties they have experienced in their education as a result. Such difficulties may include frequent illness and hospitalisation, difficulties accessing buildings and having limited availability of materials in alternative formats.

By providing this facility colleges are not discriminating in favour of students with a disability, they are simply levelling the playing field to ensure all applicants have a fair chance to access a third level place.

Finally, not all colleges offer a non-standard entry procedure. Your daughter should contact the institutions she is interested in to find out whether or not they offer this option.

Anyone interested in further information on accessing third level education for those with a disability should contact AHEAD - Association for Higher Education Access and Disability; tel: 01-4752386; email: ahead@iol.ie or visit www.ahead.ie.

Brian Mooney is president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. E-mail questions to bmooney@irish- times.ie