DARE requires you to submit evidence of your disability as part of your application. The Evidence of Disability Form 2023 can be downloaded here. Your evidence of disability documentation is used by DARE to establish whether or not you meet DARE’s evidence of disability criteria and therefore overall DARE eligibility criteria. In addition, it is used by DARE colleges and universities to determine the kinds of supports you might need when you get to college. Your application will not be complete until you provide evidence of your disability by 15 March 2023. If you would like to find out more information on DARE’s eligibility click on the disability categories in the menu to the right of this page.

Getting your Evidence of Disability completed by the Appropriate Professional

When submitting your evidence of disability documentation, make sure:

• It has been completed and signed by the appropriate professional (a list of the appropriate professionals for each disability type is detailed in the relevant section of this site),
• the appropriate professional has filled in all parts of the form,
• the writing on the form is easy to read,
• there is a clear diagnosis of your disability. Documentation which only references initial or probable, or previous diagnosis is not sufficient,
• It contains the stamp of the appropriate professional OR is on headed paper OR is accompanied by a business card.

Types of Acceptable Evidence of Disability

There are a number of ways for you to provide evidence of your disability:

• some applicants may submit a report which they already have,
• other applicants may need to get the Evidence of Disability Form 2023 completed by the appropriate professional,
• in addition, some evidence may be required to have been completed within a particular timeframe.

GP Verification

If you have an existing diagnosis but have difficulty accessing the appropriate professional to get confirmation of the existing diagnosis or an updated report, you may ask your General Practitioner (GP) to complete the Section C Evidence of Disability form.

However, the following applies:

• Your GP must have a clear diagnosis of your disability from one of the DARE appropriate specialists/consultants listed. A copy of a document in which your diagnosis is confirmed must be included in your application when using this GP verification.
• This document must be signed and dated by the appropriate specialist/consultant. If a time limit applies, the diagnosis or reconfirmation of diagnosis from the appropriate professional must have been made within that time limit.
• Your GP does not need to give you a copy of your entire file – a single document which confirms your diagnosis and is within the time limit (if one applies) is sufficient. For the purposes of DARE, only diagnoses made by a specialist/consultant are acceptable. Diagnoses made by GPs alone will not be acceptable and will lead to you being deemed ineligible.

Important Information

If you submit an Existing Report make sure it:

• is completed and signed by the appropriate professional AND
• contains the same detail as requested on the Section C Evidence of Disability Form 2023 AND
• has been completed within the appropriate time limit AND
• contains the stamp of the appropriate professional OR is on headed paper OR is accompanied by a business card.