Your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

I have a foster child who is about to sit the Leaving Certificate. He has had a turbulent existence so far, and this has impacted on his schooling to date. He is a bright kid and, all things being equal, would have had no problem in acquiring the required points for some courses of his choice. I have heard about Access programmes. Can you please indicate where I can get more information? The school that he attends is not on the list of disadvantaged schools in the Greater Dublin area.

Your case is a difficult one which high- lights the inequity of the designation of schools as disadvantaged and not individuals. Children living in the locality who are not disadvantaged nor seek to be designated as disadvantaged often attend many disadvantaged schools. On the other hand, your foster son is in a non-designated school, but one which may be far more entitled to be designated disadvantaged, than many children in designated schools.

There are three options for children seeking support due to disadvantaged status:

Option 1: The Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) facilitates schools leavers from schools linked to any one of the third-level access programmes in Higher Education Institutions DCU, DIT, NUIM, TCD, UCC, UCD and UL. The scheme targets those students who have the ability to benefit from and succeed in higher education but who, for social or economic reasons, are underrepresented at third level. So students attending one of these schools can apply to this scheme. Details, application forms and brochures are available from the Career Guidance Counsellors in link schools.

Option 2: Students who have not attended a link school must compete in open competition with all other applicants to the CAO. After securing a place in one of the CAO choices, the student can apply to the student support services in the college in question. In UCD, for example, he can apply to New ERA for post-entry support.

The New ERA programme works closely with schools and communities to encourage and facilitate increased participation at third level by students who traditionally may not have considered third level for economic or social reasons. Along with an extensive outreach programme, New ERA offers comprehensive undergraduate support to students. Details are available on our website (www.ucd.ie/newera) or by contacting the New ERA office when they register in September.

Option 3: Again, if the student does not attend a link school, and did not secure sufficient points for his desired course in the Leaving Certificate in the current year, he could look at the FETAC level two/three progression options, now available. This involves taking a one-year Post Leaving Certificate course, following his Leaving Certificate and attempting to secure a CAO place reserved for graduates of FETAC level two/three awards the following year. Some colleges offer places to students offering FETAC level two/three on the basis of points awarded for the qualification secured, up to a maximum of 400. These points are not linked to a particular course, but are used through the CAO application process, to apply for any programme offered by the colleges, mostly Institutes of Technology, which have adopted the system.

I know this is not the answer you were hoping for, and I encourage the Minister for Education to review the method of establishing the identity of disadvantaged students. It is manifestly unfair - although administratively convenient - to determine a student's academic opportunities on the basis of the school they attend rather than their individual circumstances.

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