UCD Access & Lifelong Learning – Information for International Students
 Students will be required to provide documentary evidence of a disability and take part in a
Needs Assessment in order to receive supports in UCD (a letter from the home institution listing the supports they require is not sufficient). Students should bring documentary evidence with them to Ireland and make contact with UCD Access Centre Disability Support as soon as they arrive in Dublin so that the necessary supports can be arranged.
What is supporting documentation?
 Supporting documentation shows what the disability, significant ongoing illness, Specific
Learning Difficulty (SLD) or mental health condition is and how it affects the student.
 If a student has an SLD. e.g. dyslexia, you must provide an Educational Psychologist’s report of not more than 5 years old which clearly states that you have an SLD.
 If you have any other disability you must provide a report from an appropriately qualified consultant or specialist. See the table below for details on acceptable reports.
 Students who do not have appropriate evidence of their disability should forward the
‘Evidence of Disability Form’ to their Medical Consultant/Specialist to be completed.

Please note that evidence from a GP/Family doctor, physiotherapist, or support organisation is not accepted as verification of disability.
Table of Accepted Reports
Disability
Autistic Spectrum Disorder
(including Asperger’s syndrome).
ADD/ADHD.
Acceptable Evidence of disability Age of report
Diagnosis of autism or Asperger’s syndrome by a
Psychiatrist or Psychologist.
No age limit.
Blind/Vision Impaired.
Diagnosis of ADD/ADHD by a Psychiatrist or
Psychologist.
No age limit.
Evidence of disability from an
Ophthalmologist/Ophthalmic Surgeon OR Letter from the National Council for the Blind confirming registration with the Council, OR a letter on headed notepaper signed by the principal of a school for the Blind which confirms attendance.
No age limit.
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UCD Access & Lifelong Learning – Information for International Students
Deaf/Hearing Impaired.
Mental Health Condition.
Neurological Condition.
An audiogram from a professionally qualified
Audiologist and/or ENT Consultant (the diagnosis should indicate moderate to profound bilateral hearing loss (i.e. above 40dB)) OR a letter on headed notepaper signed by the principal of a school for the Deaf which confirms attendance.
No age limit.
Diagnosis of a significant mental health condition by a Psychiatrist.
The report must be no older than five years.
Diagnosis of a significant neurological condition by a Neurologist or other relevant Consultant.
No age limit.
Neurologically-based Speech,
Language and Communication
Disorders.
Significant Ongoing Illness
(including, but not exclusive to, the following: Uncontrolled
Epilepsy, Diabetes Type 1, Cystic
Fibrosis, Severe Crohn’s Disease,
Severe Ulcerative Colitis and
IBS, Chronic Fatigue, Cancers).
Report from a Speech and Language Therapist diagnosing a moderate or severe communication disorder; or where a mild communication difficulty has a moderate to severe psychological impact on the individual.
No age limit.
Report from below, as appropriate, should diagnose a significant ongoing illness.



Epilepsy: Neurologist
Diabetes Type 1: Endocrinologist
Cystic Fibrosis: Consultant respiratory physician or paediatrician
 Gastroenterology Conditions:
Gastroenterologist

Others: Relevant Consultant in area of condition, or Consultant Registrar.
The report must be no older than five years.
Physical/mobility
Developmental Co-ordination
Disorder (Dyspraxia).
Report by an Orthopaedic Consultant or other relevant Consultant (e.g. Paediatrician or
Rheumatologist) diagnosing a significant physical or mobility difficulty.
No age limit.
Both of the following are required:
 A full psycho-educational assessment
No age limit.
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UCD Access & Lifelong Learning – Information for International Students
Specific Learning Difficulties
(Dyslexia or Dyscalculia) from a Psychologist diagnosing
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder
(Dyspraxia),
AND
 A report by an Occupational
Therapist/Neurologist diagnosing
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder
(Dyspraxia).
Full psycho-educational assessment from a
Psychologist diagnosing a Specific Learning
Difficulty.
The report must be no older than five years unless carried out using adultscaled tests.
A student can register with the service at any time but it is best to register as soon as possible so that any supports they require can be put in place without delay. Follow these two steps to register:
1. Make an appointment by e-mailing disability@ucd.ie
2. Provide supporting documentation outlined above.
All students who wish to register with disability support will need to agree to and sign the UCD
Code of Practice for Students with a Disability.
Code of Practice for Students with Disabilities
The Code of Practice is intended to provide a model for a high standard service to students with disabilities. This Code of Practice applies to all students, both undergraduate and postgraduate with permanent or long term disabilities, at UCD. UCD will provide students with a disability with reasonable accommodations to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled student. A substantial disadvantage is one that entails time, inconvenience, effort or discomfort, compared to other students and which is more than minor or trivial.
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UCD Access & Lifelong Learning – Information for International Students
The purpose of this Code of Practice for UCD is twofold:
• to outline to students with disabilities their rights and responsibilities in receiving reasonable accommodations in UCD;
• to define UCD rights and responsibilities to students with disabilities, and the UCD community.
All students registering with the UCD Access Centre Disability Support will receive a copy of this code of practice to read and sign. A web version is available on our website: Code of Practice
UCD is committed to ensuring, as far as possible and within the framework of current legislative requirements, that students with disabilities have equality of access to and participation in all UCD courses. UCD Access Centre applies policies and procedures that endeavour to ensure that students with disabilities are treated fairly and equitably, thereby enabling them to compete on an equal footing with their peers and to demonstrate their true knowledge and competency. Disability supports and reasonable accommodations are designed to help students to become independent in their learning and prepare them for employment. Examples of Accommodations and Supports are outlined below, please see Information for students webpage for further details.
Exam Accommodations
· Alternative venue
· Extra Time (10 minutes per hour)
· Refer to marking guidelines label
· Use of a computer in exams (students use a basic word process package, Wordpad)
· Shared reader
Academic Supports
· Assistive Technology training
· Assistive Technology available campus-wide (Texthelp)
· On-line supports
· Group based academic skills workshops
*International students at the earliest opportunity should be advised that the accommodations available through the students’ home institutions may be different to those available to them in
UCD. It is important to note that the extra time available to students with disabilities in UCD is 10 minutes per hour, unlike international institutions where it can be common for International students to be provided with an additional 100% time allowance. Students should contact the
Access Centre by emailing disability@ucd.ie if they require further information.
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UCD Access & Lifelong Learning – Information for International Students
All of the above Reasonable accommodations are available to international students and are determined by Needs Assessment when a student registers with UCD ALL for disability support.
Information regarding campus accommodation, off-campus accommodation and contact details for
UCD International students can be found at Accommodation for International Students webpage
UCD has set aside a large proportion of on-campus rooms for international students. However, places are limited and we regret that we are unable to guarantee accommodation to all international students. For up-to-date information regarding on-campus accommodation please see UCD Residences webpage.
If you have not been allocated a room in the student residences on-campus, or if you would rather live off-campus, you can contact the UCD Residences Off-Campus Office (residences@ucd.ie) or the
Student Union Accommodation Services (accommodation@ucdsu.ie
) for advice on off-campus options.
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