Prospective Students

Thinking about college

Once you decide what courses you wish to study, you need to complete your CAO form. If you indicate on your CAO application that you have a disability and that you have chosen a course at NUI Maynooth, we can begin getting ready for your arrival. The CAO handbook has more information on how to apply.

If you expect to have significant needs, make contact with Rose Ryan, Disability Officer, as early as you can. 

Your CAO application

If you decide to disclose a disability on your CAO application, the CAO will send you a form asking for more information. You can fill in information about your disability and what supports you might need. This information is sent to us (and other colleges you apply to) to help us prepare for your arrival.

Supplementary Admission Route

NUIM also has a Supplementary Admission Route and if your disability has had an adverse effect on your academic performance, you may be offered a place on reduced points. All information is treated with confidence. 

Make sure that you have up-to-date documentary evidence of your disability from a consultant or specialist (or a report from an Educational Psychologist if you have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia). You will need this for the Supplementary Application Route and if we need to apply for funding on your behalf for technology or other supports.

What happens next?

Once the CAO results are out in August, we begin to register students with the service. You will meet the staff who will work out out what supports you might need and whether you will need to apply for funding.

Lectures begin in late September but before then you will attend our orientation programme, known as Launchpad. Students registering with the Disability Office have an additional chance to get the lowdown on NUIM in September when Launchpad takes place. Launchpad is a great way to meet other new students, learn about how University works and take some of the anxiety out of your new life in university! Launchpad for the 2010/2011 academic year will be from Sunday, 29 August 2010 - Wednesday, 1 September 2010.

Have a look at Launchpad from previous years on our flickr pages.

Feeling interactive? Try our clickable map about going to college.

Funding your supports

         Investing in your future

The cut off point for the Fund for Students with Disabilities is mid-October, so we will need your documentation before then. If you do not have this documentation in time, you can still register with us, but we may not be able to provide technology or other supports. If you miss this deadline, we can make a late application, but you may not receive funding until very late in the second semester.

That said, you can register with us at any time at NUI Maynooth. Some people feel they do not need support in first year, but sometimes their circumstances change. Some students don’t fully realise until later the impact of their disability in college. We recommend that you come and talk to us as soon as you can. Many students become very independent learners who rarely need support; we can advise you whatever your situation.

What now?

In the meantime, why not listen to Rose Ryan, Disability Officer talk about choosing to go to university in this podcast . Contact Rose at 01 7086341 or rosario.ryan@nuim.ie to talk about any of the topics mentioned here.