HEFCE Circular 9/96
Special Initiative to Encourage High Quality Provision for Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities
To Heads of HEFCE-funded Institutions
Heads of DENI- funded Universities
Principals of FE Colleges in receipt of HEFCE funds
Of interest to: those responsible for Planning, policy, and providing support for students with learning difficulties and disabilities
Reference 9/96
Publication Date July 1996
Response by 13 September 1996
Enquiries to Sandie Cusack 0117 931 7492
Richard Townend 0117 931 7115
or Regional Officers
Executive Summary
1. The Council is committed to help institutions improve provision in higher education for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. It has supported two initiatives to widen access to HE for such students, in 1993-94 and 1994-95.
2. To build on the success of these earlier initiatives, and in the light of its new responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Council is providing £6 million over three years for a programme to encourage the expansion and development of high quality provision for students with disabilities.
3. This circular invites higher education institutions (HEIs) to submit proposals for funding for a three year period from 1996-97 to 1998-99. Further education colleges supported by the Council may also apply, provided the project involves a collaborative arrangement with one or more HEI.
4. Proposals are invited from institutions with little or no experience in this area, to enable them to initiate or develop provision; and from institutions with a proven track record in providing for students with disabilities, who want to build on past successes.
5. Proposals will be assessed against a number of criteria, including the commitment of senior management, willingness to collaborate with other HEIs in achieving agreed project aims, and whether the project can and will be sustained in the longer term.
6. Proposals should be submitted to the HEFCE by Friday 13 September 1996. They will be considered during September and October with the outcomes announced in November 1996.
Introduction
7. In 1993-94 and in 1994-95 the Council supported initiatives to widen access to higher education for students with special needs. These were effective in improving and expanding provision in this area and were welcomed by the sector. Their main achievements, noted in the recent Council publication 'Access to Higher Education: Students with Learning Difficulties or Disabilities', were:
a. Increased provision for students with disabilities within a number of institutions.
b. A raised profile for disability issues within institutions, and throughout the sector.
c. Re-evaluation by a number of institutions of their approach to supporting students with disabilities.
d. Development of support and learning networks at local and national levels.
e. Improvement in the quality of the HE experience for students with disabilities.
8. Despite these achievements, a number of factors require the Council to extend its support for students with disabilities:
a. The Council has new statutory duties to consider the needs of people with disabilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
b. The gains made and the impetus for continued change generated by the previous special initiatives may prove difficult to sustain and embed without further financial support.
c. Students with disabilities remain under-represented in higher education compared to society as a whole: 2 per cent of the total student body are recorded as having a reported disability, compared with 7 per cent of all 18-30 year olds.
9. Therefore the Council has agreed to provide £6 million over the three year period 1996-97 to 1998-99 for a new development programme to encourage high quality provision for students with disabilities.
Objectives
10. The broad aims of the programme are to encourage institutions to develop high quality provision for students with disabilities, and to increase the participation in HE of students with all types of disability. The specific objectives are to:
a. Encourage wide dissemination of good practice and expertise throughout the sector and beyond.
b. Build on the momentum of the previous special initiatives by helping to embed successful approaches and strategies at an institutional level.
c. Encourage collaborative ventures - particularly between HEIs with significant experience of providing for students with disabilities and those with less experience.
11. The programme should enable institutions to tailor proposals to suit their particular circumstances, and to meet the specific needs of their own students.
Approach
12. HEIs can apply for funding whether or not they currently provide for students with disabilities. FE colleges funded by the Council are also eligible for funding, provided the project involves collaboration with one or more HEIs.
13. Institutions are invited to submit development plans based on a portfolio of activities. These should describe, in broad terms, the institution's proposals for each area of activity, setting out the elements for which funding is sought in the context of the institution's overall programme of support for students with disabilities. Plans should include, where appropriate, evidence of how proposed provision will relate to any existing provision, and how any existing provision is integrated within the wider policies of the institution.
14. Plans should cover the three year funding period 1996-97 to 1998-99, indicating clearly how activities will be sustained beyond the period of Council support.
15. Proposals might address a wide range of disabilities or focus on one or two. The categories of disability eligible for funding are listed at
Annex A.
16. Development plans are invited under two categories:
a. Plans to initiate provision for students with disabilities, or to develop facilities in institutions with minimal or single disability provision.
b. Plans to build on existing good work in institutions with experience and proven success, including projects to disseminate the outcomes of their experience to the sector, or to increase the numbers of students supported under the project in question.
17. Although institutions will determine the scope of their plans, the Council encourages them to consider the following areas:
a. Sign language support for deaf and hearing impaired students.
b. Projects to support students with mental health problems.
c. Staff development and awareness training.
d. The development of IT applications to assist teaching and learning for students with disabilities.
e. The dissemination to the sector of experience and expertise in providing for students with disabilities.
Information Required
18. Development plans should contain the following information:
a. A statement describing institutional policy for students with disabilities.
This should include a clear indication of senior management commitment in setting out the institution's current and future intentions to provide for students with disabilities, and how disability issues are, or will be, integrated into its central planning, policy and structure.
It might describe how any current provision is organised and should establish how much the institution currently invests in students with disabilities in terms of human and capital resources.
b. Past record of achievement (where appropriate)
A track record of provision for students with disabilities is not a pre-requisite for consideration under this special initiative programme. However, if an institution claims to have a track record, it should provide a brief overview of provision covering the period 1992-93 to 1995-96. This should include the outcomes of any previously funded HEFCE special initiative projects, with details of how they have been funded and taken forward since the end of the initiative.
The information may include whatever performance indicators the institution considers relevant. These might be quantitative, for example numbers of students with disabilities, or qualitative.
c. Summary of any market needs analysis
Plans should identify the target client group(s), provide evidence that the plans are based on a clear understanding of what the prospective user group wants, and include objectives and strategies for achieving them.
d. Proposed developments
To enable the programme to be evaluated, institutions should outline the scope and purpose of the proposed new developments. This should include:
i. How the project relates to the aims of the special initiative.
ii. Quantifiable and specific objectives.
iii. How the project will build on existing work in the institution.
iv. How the outcomes will be disseminated, both internally and externally.
v. Evidence that proposed activities can and will be sustained beyond the three year HEFCE funding period.
e. Collaborative involvement
Institutions should provide a brief summary of the extent to which the proposed activities include or rely upon collaboration with other HEIs or FE colleges. Those choosing to collaborate might find it useful to contact Skill (National Bureau for Students with Disabilities) for advice on partners. The HEFCE report of the 1993-94 and 1994-95 special initiatives also provides project summaries and contact names. Collaborative ventures should be explored in detail before proposals are submitted to the HEFCE. Joint activities and individual responsibilities should be clearly set out to avoid later misunderstandings or conflict between institutions. One institution must be designated as 'lead site' for funding purposes.
f. Dissemination
The Council encourages the wide dissemination of good practice and successful experience. Institutions should set out effective and relevant strategies to disseminate the work supported by this initiative. They should also indicate how they intend to use the examples of good practice from other HEIs to develop their own plans over the three year period of Council support.
g. Monitoring and evaluation systems (including quality assurance)
Details should be provided setting out the arrangements proposed for the internal monitoring of the project including the role of senior management. Evaluation and quality assurance procedures should also be in place for the services and support provided for students with disabilities and the proposals should give a clear exposition of how they will be applied to these projects.
h. Budget
Institutions should submit a proposed budget for the three-year period. This should include institutional and other financial contributions to the costs, and a statement of the expected return in terms of both qualitative outputs and quantitative ones, such as student numbers.
The Council aims to support as many projects as possible, so may not fund all of them in full. Institutions should therefore indicate which parts of their project could run independently of the whole.
Criteria for Assessment
19. The Council's Advisory Group on Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (SLDD) will assess the development plans submitted and advise the Council on which projects should be supported. It will assess proposals against the following criteria:
a. The extent to which the project will enable the Council to improve and expand provision across the sector whilst providing value for money.
b. How integral disability issues are to the institution.
c. The extent of the institution's current and future commitment to provision for students with disabilities, including the institution's financial commitment, and how this is or will be integrated in its central planning.
d. The degree of commitment by senior management to the project, and to sustaining it in the longer term.
e. The nature and extent of any existing provision and evidence of past success including growth in numbers of applicants and entrants with disabilities. (This will only apply to institutions claiming a track record.)
f. Whether students' needs have been clearly identified, with a strategy to meet those needs. This might, for example, consist of a needs audit followed by collaboration with more experienced providers.
g. The extent to which collaboration between more or less experienced HEIs forms part of the proposal, clearly identifying the lead institution and the proposed relationship with other providers involved.
h. How the institution's plan provides for staff development and awareness training on disabilities.
i. The nature of the management structure for supporting students with disabilities, how support will be monitored and evaluated, and the assessment process for any measurable project outputs.
j. Indications of the scope for future development within the institution and for wide dissemination of project outcomes to the sector.
Monitoring and Evaluation
20. Evaluation of the previous special initiatives has been invaluable in defining a future strategy for funding provision for students with disabilities. The Council intends to undertake formative evaluation of the new programme to provide developmental feedback both to the Council and to successful projects during the initiative. Institutions will be notified of the chosen evaluation strategy for the initiative when funding decisions are made. The evaluation findings may affect continued funding of specific projects.
Dissemination
21. Wide dissemination will help to promote the expertise necessary to inform and guide inexperienced institutions. Institutions may benefit from advice before embarking on new ventures or adding a new area of disability to their existing provision. This may require some central co-ordination. The Council will inform institutions how this will be undertaken in due course.
Rules of Bidding
22. The following rules apply when submitting proposals:
a. Institutions (or the lead institution in the case of joint projects) must send five copies of their proposal to the Council. The cover sheet (Annex B) should be attached to all copies. One copy should be unbound for ease of photocopying.
b. A disk copy in a text only format, should also be included to enable a Braille copy of the proposal to be made.
c. Proposals will not be accepted by fax.
d. Proposals submitted to the Council after 1700 on Friday 13 September 1996 may not be considered.
e. Proposals should not be longer than 10 sides of A4 including annexes and attachments.
f. The SLDD advisory group will be notified of any proposals which do not follow the above rules.
Notification of Funding Allocations
24. The advisory group will assess the proposals during September and October 1996. Institutions will be notified of funding outcomes in November 1996.
25. In the light of this timetable, there will be some flexibility in how funds are used over the three-year period. Funding allocations will be made in each academic year, but the Council does not intend to specify, as a condition of grant, that projects must be completed within three years.
Further Information
26. Enquiries should be addressed to Ms Sandie Cusack tel 0117 931 7492, to Mr Richard Townend tel 0117 931 7115, or to Regional Officers.
27. The address for institutions wishing to contact Skill to discuss possible partners for collaboration is: Skill, 336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA. Tel. 0171 274 0565.
Annex A
Categories of Disability Eligible for Funding
The categories are those used by UCAS on application forms and are as follows:
Dyslexia
Blind/partially sighted
Deaf/has hearing impairment
Wheelchair user/has mobility difficulties
Needs personal care support
Has mental health difficulties
Unseen disability, eg diabetes, epilepsy, asthma
Has one or more of the above
A disability not listed above
Special Initiatives to Encourage High Quality Provision for Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (SLDD): 1996-97 to 1998-99
Development Plan Cover Sheet
Page of
Institution
Title of Development Plan
Brief description of development plan: aims/objectives/area(s) of provision
Total Project Cost HEFCE Funding sought Institution's Other funding
(over 3 years)* (over 3 years)* Contribution (if any)
(over 3 years)*
*Institutions should specify the total funding sought for the full three years of the special initiative. However, total funding will be divided in three and allocated in equal amounts over the three years of the special initiative.
Contact name and position ........................................
Address ..........................................................
..................................................................
Telephone .......................Facsimile .......................
Email ...............................
Signed ......................... Date ...........................
Please return 5 copies of the proposal to:
Ms Sandie Cusack, Policy Division, HEFCE, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QD by 1700 on Friday 13 September 1996.
A copy of the proposal should be returned on disk in a text only format (ASCII).
Applications must be returned by post, faxes will not be accepted.