Student disability - guide for universities and colleges

We’re developing a statement of expectations in relation to disability. This will set out what we expect of universities and colleges to ensure that disabled students can access, participate in, and achieve good outcomes in higher education.

The statement of expectations will build on existing legislation, regulation and guidance. It will bring greater clarity to what minimum standards look like in practice, and support providers to address risks to equality of opportunity for disabled students across the whole student lifecycle.

Our collaborative approach

We are developing the statement of expectations collaboratively with a range of stakeholders, to ensure it reflects the diversity of providers, students and study contexts.

One of the key mechanisms for the collaborative development of the statement is the Disability in Higher Education Advisory Panel. The aim of the panel is to ensure that a diverse range of views are heard and used to shape our work. The panel will advise us on the content of the statement and the monitoring and data strategy that will support its implementation.

Alongside this, we are engaging more widely through a series of workshops, meetings and sector events throughout summer and autumn 2026. This includes:

• workshops with practitioners and student services leads at conferences organised by AMOSSHE, The Student Services Organisation, and the National Association of Disability Practitioners
• workshops with disabled students to learn about their experiences and get their input into the development of the expectations
• discussions with senior leaders and provider representative groups, including Independent Higher Education, GuildHE, Universities UK, Russell Group and the Association of Colleges
• targeted conversations with organisations representing specific groups, including organisations led by and for disabled people, those working with applicants, and those working on funding and graduate progression.

Next steps

We will keep this page updated with information about opportunities to feed in to the development of the statement, and how we are using what we hear to shape it.

We are working towards publishing the statement of expectations in early 2027.