To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to increase access to specialist higher education facilities for people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered on
25 March 2022
This government believes it is important that disabled students receive an appropriate level of support wherever and whatever they choose to study and is committed to ensuring that all students with disabilities receive the support they need to enable them to study alongside their fellow students on an equal basis.
The government expects all higher education (HE) providers to fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to be making reasonable adjustments for all disabled higher education students.
Wherever possible, disabled students should expect to have their needs met through inclusive learning practices and individual reasonable adjustments made by their HE provider.
The support students need will relate to their impairment or impairments. The attached table shows numbers of disabled students by impairment type in the 2020/21 academic year.
Disabled Students’ Allowance is available in addition to the reasonable adjustments made by HE providers for the provision of more specialist support such as British Sign Language interpretation.