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Disability & Accessibility: support for students

If you have a temporary or permanent disability or disabling health condition, Sciences Po will ensure that you receive the necessary support and adjustments to complete your chosen programme and get fully involved in student life. Your essential resource: the Guide for Students with Disabilities (pdf, 2.2MB).

The Disability Support Service is there to:

discuss your needs with you;
offer you specific adjustments;
offer you the best possible access to your classes and buildings;
coordinate actions and information by liaising with Sciences Po's various departments;
guide you through administrative procedures.

Contact:
pole.handicap@sciencespo.fr - 01 45 49 51 19
13 rue de l'université (first floor)
by appointment, Monday to Friday, 9am – 1pm and 2pm – 5.30pm.

Sciences Po supports candidates with disabilities: more details on the Admissions website.

Once you are admitted, contact the Disability Support Service as soon as possible in order to anticipate and identify your needs and assist you throughout your studies.

You also need to contact the Paris Descartes inter-university health centre, 45 rue des Saints-Pères 76006 Paris (Ph. 01 42 86 21 29). They will issue you with an important certificate that you must renew each academic year and hand in to the Disability Support Service. You will need your medical records and your student ID card.

During the current health pandemic, you can carry out this step online by writing to : accueil@siumpps.parisdescartes.fr.

Timetable: we will help you adapt your timetable to suit your needs. Contact the Disability Support Service before course registration begins.
Provision of temporary staff or specialised support workers to facilitate your daily life at Sciences Po.
Learning support from higher-level students or faculty.
E-courses: certain lectures are filmed and made available on the Moodle platform.
Programme adjustments: in some circumstances, the duration and conditions of your programme may be adapted.
Exam accommodations: extra time, reader/scribe, use of a computer, etc.
Third year abroad: Sciences Po will help you organise your study abroad and may provide a mobility grant.
Preparation for the IELTS English test: adapted question papers can be provided for sight-impaired students. Contact the languages department three months before the exam date. Contacts: Joanna Starzyk (second year) and Martine Desauguste (Master's)
ENA competitive examination: to qualify for extra time or accommodations to sit the exams, you must have officially recognised disability status (RQTH). Careful! The request for disability status must be made to the MDPH (Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées) at least six to eight months before the exams.

This web serie entitled "I learn with the right approach (fr.)" is designed to support your skills development in learning methods or strategies. Thanks to a better knowledge of your brain's functionning and your specific way to learn, you will be able to overcome difficulties that every student faces.

This 12 videos gives you practical advice and methods to improve yourself over time. It's aim is to enhance an inclusive pedagogy for all learners. This is a Sciences Po project directed and produced with leading experts as Camille Benoit, psychiatrist (and founder of Psyadom) and Sandrine Barret (la Fourmi Orange) for the sketchnoting, with the support of Agefiph and Fiphfp.

The library website is accessible
The library offers a range of services to make life easier: gathering items together for you, photocopying, borrowing and returns made easy, etc.
Loan of laptops equipped with "Jaws" and a Braille keyboard
Electronic resources: “Vocale Presse”, direct access to Le Monde, accessible databases.
Readers provided by the Disability Support Service
Note-taking by students in the same year as you or copies of lecture notes provided by lecturers or classmates.
Access & specific facilities (Paris campus) - See the Guide for Students with Disabilities (pdf, 2.2 MB).

Web accessibility

Sciences Po is gradually making its websites and applications accessible, in line with French digital accessibility standards (Référentiel Général d'Accessibilité des Administrations or RGAA).
Contact: Mathieu Chaperon

Facilities available

Accessible cafeteria (Paris campus, 13 rue de l’Université and 27 rue St Guillaume in the cafeteria)
A telepresence robot on the Reims campus and two robots on the Paris campus (send a request to Disability Support Service)
A lift to get to the garden at 27, rue St Guillaume (Paris campus)
Lockers for students with limited mobility (Paris campus - 13, rue de l’Université)
Lift access cards (Paris campus -13, rue de l’Université)
PRM toilet access badges (Paris campus)
An anti-stress cocoon seat (Paris campus -13, rue de l’Université)
Five sound amplifiers (send a request to Samia Khelifi)
Two portable screen magnifiers (send a request to Samia Khelifi)
Audio induction loops: check where they are on this list and look for the logo to show they are installed.

Appariteurs

In all of Sciences Po's buildings in Paris, the appariteurs, or porters, are available at any time to help you get around or for other services:

Entrance to 27 rue Saint-Guillaume: 01 45 49 50 01 or 01 45 49 50 02
Entrance to 13 rue de l'Université: 01 45 49 76 40

For any specific requests, contact the the head of reception: Régis Bechet.

Housing

The Housing Service is available to help you look for accommodation
To request accessible housing in a CROUS residence, you must complete a student social file (Dossier Social Étudiant) online, even if you do not receive a CROUS scholarship.
Contact: Mme Christine Gallon (Ph. 01 40 51 35 57), social worker in charge of disability support at CROUS

You should start the application process as early as December the year before you start at Sciences Po.

Financial aid

Sciences Po grants a full tuition fee waiver to students with disabilities recognised by the Disability Rights Commission (CDAPH) or mentioned in article L5212-13 of the Labour Code. This full tuition fee waiver applies to students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programmes, excluding fixed fees programmes. Students admitted to the Master in One Year wishing a revision of the amount of their tuition fees must apply to their school directly.
International students with disabilities may benefit from a tuition fee waiver upon presentation of a temporary certificate from the University Preventive Medicine Service (SIUMPPS) for the first year of studies only. Students must apply for recognition of their disability from the CDAPH (Departmental commission for persons with a disabilitiy) during their first year of study and present an official document allowing them to benefit from a tuition fee exemption any subsquent years of study.
In all other cases, tuition fees are calculated on a sliding scale based on family income, and there is specific financial aid for scholarship students.
Specific mobility grants are available for your third year abroad.

Health

Visit the health pages.

The Careers Service prepares, supports and facilitates the career launch of students with disabilities. Throughout the year, the Sciences Po Accessible Programme team organises events at which you can meet professionals and mentors and hone your career plan. The corporate partners of Sciences Po Accessible regularly propose internship and job opportunities.

Contact: Fabrice Barthélémy