Posted 15 July 2024

A primary focus of Go Higher West Yorkshire’s (GHWY) Disabled Students Network over the past two years has been the subject of transition. Making the step from Further to Higher Education is significant for any student, however this is magnified for many disabled students. 

There is a great need for disabled students to study and operate more independently within the Higher Education environment, something they may not be used to doing. This is also accompanied by a huge administrative burden, which they are responsible for, associated with the application and management of funds to meet the cost of disability-related support. This all happens at the same time as navigating the issues associated with starting a new course in an unfamiliar environment. 

As a result, colleagues from across the region representing both Further and Higher Education have been working together to develop the Disabled Learners Transition pack, a resource to assist students and their friends, family or supporters to understand how support works at university. This has been a great success and widely welcomed and as a group we continue to look at how we can refresh, update and develop the pack to ensure it remains relevant.  

Ensuring the Transition Pack remains relevant is essential as there are significant changes taking place within Higher Education,  

One of these changes is associated with the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), which is a government fund to help cover additional costs a disabled student may have such as assistive software, specialist one to one support or equipment. A new model was introduced in February 2024 and now two companies are contractually responsible for the provision of needs assessments, assistive technology (AT) and AT Training. Ensuring that new students can effectively engage with the new process is key to student success, especially given the growing numbers of disabled students who are applying for DSA. 

There has also been some change due to recent case law. Higher Education is taking a fresh look at how and when it implements support for disabled students, moving away from a purely evidence-based mode requiring students to prove their disability.

For many Higher Education providers, institutional reasonable adjustments are within their gift to give, and as such can take a more dynamic and social model approach, only asking for additional information to support or enhance understanding of individual needs. This is very much a change in sector approach. As such, institutions are striving to ensure these new developments are relevant and reflective of the ever-changing needs of the disabled student population and embedded in institutional practice, making higher education an inclusive environment for all.  

 

Jo Mitchell (University of Huddersfield) and Simon Morris (University of Leeds), GHWY Disabled Students Network Co-Chairs