Support for disabled students

If you have a disability or learning difficulty, you can get help with your college or university course. Here's our guide to getting the support you need to reach your goals.

Would I be considered as having a disability?

It's easy to see that a wheelchair user probably has a disability, but other impairments might not be so obvious, even to the person themselves. Dyslexia Action quotes research suggesting that dyslexia seriously affects 4% of the population, while up to 10% show some signs of having specific learning difficulties. This can be one reason people struggle at school without really knowing why – sometimes mistakenly believing they are lazy or stupid.

The legal definition of disability is very broad and includes medical conditions, such as epilepsy, visual or hearing impairments, and mental health difficulties, such as depression.

You don't have to accept the word 'disability' as a label, but it can be used as a way to get support. It's important to remember that everyone can ask for help with their learning.

What support can I get?

Support can include many different things, for example:

• Specialist equipment, such as a voice-activated computer
• Sign-language interpreters
• Tape or digital recorder for lectures and notes
• Extra tutorial help
• Changing the height of desks
• Allowing you extra time to complete essays or exams
• Providing handouts on different colour paper, or in a larger font
• Transport to and from college

Disability law

Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), colleges and universities have to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled students are not disadvantaged. This means they have a legal duty to make the course accessible and provide the support you need.

What is considered reasonable depends on each individual case. You can get more suggestions on possible adjustments by reading the booklet Adjustments for disabled students published by the charity Skill.

How do I organise disability support?

You need to tell your college or university that you have a disability (known as 'disclosure') before they can put the support in place. It's your choice when to tell them – but doing it early will give them more time to get things ready.

Disclosure also gives you more protection under the DDA. If the college or university can say they didn't know you had a disability, you would not have a case for discrimination.

You should be able to have a confidential discussion with the staff member responsible for disability, usually called the learning support advisor or disability coordinator. They should arrange for a needs assessment – a face-to-face meeting with a trained assessor who understands about your disability. The assessor will send you a report summarising the extra help that you will receive.

If you have a Statement of Special Educational Needs at school, you should also have a needs assessment in Year 11. This is usually called a Section 140 or Connexions assessment. With your permission, your school/Connexions should pass on any information about your needs to the college.

Who pays for any extra costs?

In further education, you can generally expect your college to pay for extra educational costs. Otherwise, you could try applying to a charitable trust. See Skill's guide Funding Further Education for Disabled Students for more information.

In higher education, you can apply for Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs). DSAs are for extra costs you have on your course because of your disability. They are divided into four categories: specialist equipment, non-medical helper, general expenditure and travel. You can get detailed information on DSAs from the Skill booklet Applying for Disabled Students' Allowances.

By Tony Stevens

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