Student disability - guide for universities and colleges

Universities and colleges may find the following resources helpful in their work on supporting disabled students.

Organisations

• Disabled Students UK (DSUK) is a community research organisation run by current and former disabled students.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is Britain’s independent equality and human rights regulator.
• National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) is the professional association for disability and inclusivity practitioners in further and higher education.

Guidance and frameworks

• The EHRC have published:
  • Technical guidance on further and higher education (See Chapter 7: Disabled persons: reasonable adjustments)
  • Advice note for the higher education sector from the legal case of University of Bristol vs Abrahart | EHRC
• The Disabled Student Commitment (DSC) is a voluntary, non-regulatory scheme that providers can sign up for to demonstrate their commitment to creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for disabled students. The Commitment was consulted on and launched by the Disabled Students’ Commission, which was funded by the OfS from 2020 to 2023.
• The Disabled Student Commitment Advisory Group has published Competence Standards Guidance, which clarifies the legal definition of a competence standard and outlines how competence standards should be implemented.
• The Disabled Student Commitment Information Sharing Special Interest Group has produced a guide on information sharing best practice, which examines how higher education providers manage and share disability-related information.
• OfS briefings and resources:
• One size doesn’t fit all: Equality of opportunity for disabled students
• Beyond the bare minimum: Are universities and colleges doing enough for disabled students?
• Coronavirus briefing note: Disabled students
• Information for students: support for disabled students and student mental health support.
• The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) provides a Good Practice Framework for universities and colleges, which includes a section on supporting disabled students.

Research

• The Graduate Futures Institute (formerly AGCAS) published What Happens Next?, which uses data from the 2021-22 Graduate Outcomes survey to understand the employment outcomes of disabled graduates.
• DSUK shares disabled students’ insights, such as their annual Access Insights Reports.
• NADP provides resources and publications for professionals.
• Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) provides evidence and resources to help reduce equality gaps. In 2023 TASO published a report on What works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students.
• In 2022, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) published Next Steps: What is the experience of disabled students in education? This report analyses the student journey and makes recommendations for supporting access and progression.