Introduction
A student who has a disability may be:
- Deaf
- Blind or visually impaired
- A wheelchair user
- Someone who has mobility support needs
- A mental health service user
- Someone with a medical condition
- Dyslexic ( known as a specific learning difficulty. It has its own page on this site)
This list is not definitive. Students are individuals and all have different
needs. Not all students with disabilities would be eligible for, or
need support.
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2002 (SENDA) is part
4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and specifically relates
to education. Briefly, an institution must not treat a disabled student
less favourably than one who is not disabled because of their disability.
Institutions must also make 'reasonable adjustments' to enable students
with disabilities to carry out all aspects of their academic and personal
lives whilst at university.
The Disability Rights Commission has produced a helpful Code of Practice
that assists with the interpretation of the Act.
Please see the interactive section in the right
hand column to find fuller details of disabilities, SENDA and the Code
of Practice.
Why is it important to tell students about disability support?
You should always assume that your groups include a student with a
disability, as they may not have disclosed it to anyone.
It is therefore advisable to make this information available to all
your groups. Students have rights and responsibilities under SENDA.
They must have the confidence to disclose details of their disability
and support needs and to do this in plenty of time, to enable the right
support to be in place at the start of their course.
As a tutor, you have a key role to play in ensuring your disabled students
know their entitlements - and their responsibilities.
Support in HE is funded directly to the student, unlike in FE where
the institution claims the funding retrospectively. The funding body
is usually the student's Local Education Authority which provides Disabled
Student's Allowance (DSA), or Social Services Dept. (SSD) which pays
for personal care. Nursing (and similar) students on degree courses
can obtain DSA through their NHS bursary. Those on Dip. HE nursing courses
can access DSA through the higher, non-means tested bursary.
Students need to make enquiries about support as soon as they have
decided on university, as support depends on approval of funding which
can take more than three months to arrange.
Please see the interactive section in the right hand column for
full details and presentations.
Where to get additional information
The Disability Team at any university will be pleased to offer advice
and information. Contact details can usually be found through the university
web site.
See also the useful links section in the right hand column.
From the student point of view
Candidates are selected by a university solely on their academic merit.
Their support needs will be considered once the Admissions Tutor has
decided to offer them a place. It is vital that the process is begun
in plenty of time.
Students may believe that support will be provided automatically if
they indicate a disability on their UCAS or enrolment form, or if they
have had support in college - it won't. They must be pro-active in declaring
their disability and contacting or responding to the university's disability
team.
If a student applies through Clearing or any other route, it is essential
that they disclose their disability immediately to avoid losing time
in applying for funding. Students can miss out on a whole term's support
if they delay their application for funding.
You may have valuable information about the student's current support
that will help the Disability Team at their chosen university.
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