Student disability - guide for universities and colleges

I am Vice Chancellor at University of Bedfordshire, and previously was Deputy Vice Chancellor at London South Bank University. I chair the Disabled Student Commitment Steering Group, having been a member of the previous Disabled Students’ Commission. The Disabled Student Commitment sets out principles for engagement across the student lifecycle based on best practice and input from students and staff. The steering group supports the take-up and implementation of the Commitment, which was signed up to by key sector organisations following a period of consultation in 2023. I am on the board of STAMMA (a national stammering charity), and I am the Cabinet Office Disability and Access Ambassador (DAA) for universities. There are 20 sector DAAs across the UK who drive change by influencing businesses to improve services and facilities for disabled employees and consumers.

I work as a legal principal for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, specialising in matters concerning children and young people. The Equality and Human Rights Commission regulates the Equality Act 2010, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments. I work across areas including education law, higher education law and children’s public law, and conducted the Commission’s intervention in the legal case of the University of Bristol v Dr Robert Abrahart, instructing Catherine Casserley. I have previously worked as a children and family solicitor in private practice, in a regulatory capacity for the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, and have also worked in the academic services department of a university.

I am the Senior Policy and Research Officer at AMOSSHE, The Student Services Organisation. AMOSSHE supports, informs and empowers UK student services leaders to enhance the higher education student experience and help students succeed. In my role, I summarise and interpret higher education policy and research from the student services perspective, and lead on policy positions and responses for the organisation. In my PhD, I examined the experiences of commuter students in higher education. I have previously worked in widening participation roles in both higher education and secondary education in the North of England. 

I lead Student Minds, the UK's student mental health charity. Student Minds empower students to build their own mental health toolkit to support themselves and their peers through university life and beyond, and challenge the higher education sector, health sector and government to make student mental health a priority. I work closely with Student Minds' staff team, trustees, student advisors, clinicians, professionals and our cross-sector partners on a range of initiatives supporting a whole-university approach to mental health, such as the University Mental Health Charter Programme and Award. I was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to mental health in higher education. Prior to joining Student Minds in 2013, I worked in a range of student facing organisations. 

I am the Director of Fundraising and Policy at Disabled Students UK. As well as having been a disabled student at the University of York for the past five years, I've been very involved in disability justice activism in various forms, including student activism, educating healthcare professionals, and creating resources for disabled young people. Disabled Students UK is the largest disabled student led organisation in the country, working to improve the disabled student experience using research, policy, and by working directly with universities and other key stakeholders. We believe in the power of disabled students' insights to create systemic change.

I am a campaigner and Executive Committee member of The LEARN Network, a community of bereaved families working to prevent young suicide. In 2023, its petition calling for a statutory duty of care in higher education led to a cross-party parliamentary debate and helped prompt the establishment of a sector-wide taskforce (HEMHIT) to accelerate improvements in student mental health and safety. I am also campaigner for improvements in higher education aimed at preventing student suicide, with a particular focus on increasing clarity, consistency and accountability towards both students and staff. I contribute to national standards as a member of the British Standards Institution’s oversight committee for BS 30480 (suicide and the workplace). Alongside this, I am a Champion Volunteer with the suicide prevention charity Papyrus. ASIST trained, I deliver awareness workshops and represent the charity at events.

I am the Head of Outreach and Insight at the OIA (Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education). Since joining the OIA in 2006 I have carried out reviews of complaints, led casework teams and now focus on the OIA’s good practice work in sharing learning from complaints. I have a particular interest in processes for supporting disabled students, addressing harassment, and exploring how students’ different life experiences shape their engagement with formal complaints processes. I was formerly part of the Disabled Students’ Commission partnership group, and chair the OIA's Disability Experts Panel.

The OIA is the independent, free student complaints body. It supports the development of fair and inclusive complaints handling practice via its Good Practice Framework. In 2025, the OIA received more than 4,200 student complaints, and 42 per cent of these were brought by students who identified themselves as disabled.

I am the Chief Executive of the National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) following appointment as Executive Director in 2023 and four years of prior service as an elected Director. NADP is the Professional Association for those working in the tertiary education sector who are involved in inclusive education and the management or delivery of services for disabled students. I lead the organisation in its delivery of training, conferences, research, its Journal of Inclusive Practice and Accreditation Scheme. I represent NADP across the higher education sector through membership of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator Disability Experts Panel, Chair of the European LINK Network, Universal Design for Learning lead at the Building Future Communities Research Centre, and as a member of the Disabled Student Commitment Steering Group. Before joining the NADP staff team, I led disability and student support services across several higher education providers. I also bring lived experience as a disabled student and am currently completing a PhD in Law and Education.