At Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada, Diploma in Educational Support is offered as a diploma in Education & Teaching programme. The programme runs for 2 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 19,900 per year (CAD 4,943 per year for local students).
This diploma builds competencies for supporting students with disabilities or Individual Education Plans from kindergarten through high school, covering academic, behavioural and personal care needs, Universal Design for Learning principles, social inclusion, work as part of a special education team, and accurate reporting on student learning. Field placements in the second, third and fourth semesters place students in a school supporting students with special needs in the classroom, with Sheridan arranging placements that involve a range of exceptionalities including behaviour disorders, intellectual disabilities, visual and hearing impairments, physical disabilities, autism and learning disabilities. An optional Skills Passport series of workshops in the final year focuses on supporting behavioural needs and mental health. Classroom activities combine group seminars, cooperative learning and reflective practice tied to field placement experience, and the program offers course-based registration for full-time or part-time, day or evening study.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Entry requires an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or equivalent including Grade 12 English at the ENG4C or ENG4U level. Applicants aged 19 or over who lack the standard prerequisites may qualify as mature students, who may be required to complete tests in English, math and/or science, or to take Sheridan's Academic Upgrading program first. Eligible applicants are selected on the basis of previous academic achievement, using their six highest senior-level credits including the required courses. Students must provide additional documentation directly to their field placement, at their own expense, before the placement begins: Sheridan's field placement agencies require a police record check for criminal offences, including a vulnerable sector check, and may also request a current record of immunization. Applicants whose first language is not English must meet Sheridan's English Proficiency Requirement for certificate and diploma programmes: IELTS Academic 6.0 overall with no band below 5.5, TOEFL iBT 80 with no section below 20, PTE Academic 58 with no section below 49, or Duolingo English Test 105 with no sub-score below 85.
Application Details
Start Date:Sheridan runs three terms a year - Fall starting in September, Winter in January and Spring/Summer in May. For 2026-27 the Fall term ran 8 September to 18 December 2026, Winter runs 6 January to 16 April 2027, and Spring/Summer runs 3 May to 13 August 2027. On 6 September 2026 this program's own page listed a September 2026 intake at the Trafalgar Campus in Oakville for the full-time diploma, while the part-time version also listed January 2027 and May 2027 starts. Sheridan's Start date table also carries a separate Domestic and International status for each intake (Available, Waitlisted or Closed) that changes as seats fill, so check this program's page on sheridancollege.ca before you apply.
Application Deadline:Sheridan publishes no deadline of its own for this program; the dates below are the college-wide ones. DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through ontariocolleges.ca, which opened the Fall 2027 application on 26 September 2026 - Sheridan says it starts receiving those applications in early October for the academic year that follows. The equal consideration date is 1 February: apply on or before it and your file is weighed alongside every other one received by then for a Fall-term start, so for the cycle now open that means 1 February 2027 for entry in September 2027. Sheridan still accepts applications after that date wherever a program has not filled, but they are handled in the order they arrive, which leaves little room in high-demand programs. First offers for a September start may go out from 1 November; programs that require a portfolio, audition or resume begin issuing decisions later in March, and offers for the Winter and Spring/Summer intakes are made on a rolling basis. Confirm a Fall offer at ontariocolleges.ca by 1 May, or by the date printed on an offer issued after that, then pay the tuition deposit three months before the term begins. INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS apply instead through Sheridan's own International Application Portal, and Sheridan publishes no deadline for them - its Important Dates table carries only a note that the international dates are still to be posted. What limits an international application in practice is space: Sheridan tells international applicants to check that a program still has room before applying, and every program page shows a separate International status for each intake. Apply as early as you can and leave time for a study permit. Confirm the current dates at sheridancollege.ca and ontariocolleges.ca before you apply.
