Higher Education Funding Council for England

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales

Segal Quince Wicksteed Limited

Report 99/04

January 1999

Guidance on base-level provision for disabled students in higher education institutions

This page contains the Contents, Executive Summary and Introduction only. The full report is available in Word or RTF formats.

Contents

Executive summary

1. Purpose

2. This report presents the findings and recommendations of a study of base-level provision for disabled students in higher education institutions (HEIs). The aims of the study are to:
   • guide institutions on provision for disabled students
   • act as a benchmark for students and institutions
   • inform funding policy.
3. After the study was commissioned the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) asked the consultants to assess the implications of extending Disabled Student Allowances (DSAs) to those who become disabled and wish to obtain a second, higher educational qualification, as well as to part-time and postgraduate students.

   Recommendations

4. The recommendations fall into three groups:
   • base-level provision, and a statement of what every HEI should be expected to provide
   • funding issues
   • other initiatives to promote access for students with disabilities.

   Base-level provision

5. Base-level provision means the minimum level of support that each HEI should provide. It is not the same as best practice and is open to quality improvement and expansion.
6. The base-level provision should include the following:
   1. A comprehensive disability statement that sets out the institution’s policies, support services and implementation strategy for students with disabilities.
   2. An admissions policy and procedures that specifically address the needs of disabled students. Students should have opportunities to discuss their needs when they apply. If they make known a need for support, they should be invited to meet a designated officer on enrolment. All HEIs should maintain and monitor statistics about applications and enrolment rates for disabled students.
   3. Well-publicised arrangements for the assessment of individual needs, with target times for their completion. Each HEI should prepare a code of practice governing the circulation of personal information, to preserve appropriate levels of confidentiality.
   4. The provision of services to meet assessed needs.
   5. Clear internal communication and referral policies.
   6. Arrangements to monitor the provision of support services that have been agreed as necessary following professional assessment.
   7. Each HEI should ensure it has access to networks of suitably trained support workers.
   8. An institution-wide policy and procedure to cover examination and assessments.
   9. Staff development programmes to cover information about students with disabilities and the support available. These should be part of induction sessions and training programmes for staff new to the institution or sector. There should also be optional training sessions for more experienced staff, specific briefings for any staff who request them, and professional development opportunities for staff working directly with students with disabilities.
   10. Dedicated staff including a permanently employed disability co-ordinator, with other full or part-time staff depending on the numbers of students with disabilities who require support. In addition, there should be adequate administrative staff to support the co-ordinator. A member of the senior management team should be made responsible for disability issues.
   11. An estates strategy to cover physical access issues and to ensure the needs of all disabled groups are considered in the design or refurbishment of buildings. The issues to be covered should include wheel-chair access, signage, aids than can be incorporated into buildings (such as hearing loops), and amenities to help cope with emergencies.
   12. Procedures to ensure that policies, programmes and their impact and effectiveness are subject to regular monitoring and evaluation.

   Funding issues

7. There is a strong case for the allocation of additional resources to HEIs, both to enable those with poor services to improve and to provide incentives for others to develop and enhance their provision.
8. All HEIs should have access to funds to support their work with students with disabilities. One way to make such funding available would be through a weighted premium based on numbers of disabled students. This would be a relatively straightforward approach and would be allocated through the mainstream formula funding method. This is the route the HEFCE has chosen to recognise the additional costs incurred by institutions in supporting part-time students. The HEFCW is presently considering such matters as part of its review of the funding method for teaching.
   
9. However, we do not recommend the introduction of a weighted premium as an immediate step. As an interim measure we propose that all HEIs should be eligible to apply for ring-fenced funding linked to an institutional development plan. If, after a period, an institution can demonstrate it has sufficiently improved and embedded provision for disabled students then it should be eligible for a weighted premium as part of the mainstream funding method. The use of a weighted premium would, however, require the funding bodies to both identify appropriate data on disabled student numbers, and consider further the cost to HEIs of provision for disabled students.
10. There should also be a competitive fund for special initiatives, and to encourage collaborative working by HEIs. Institutions that are supported through a competitive fund should be subject to review after two years. If, at that time, an institution has succeeded in establishing the base-level provision, additional funding should continue to be available through the mainstream funding method.

    Other initiatives

11. Other initiatives which might be taken to widen the participation of students with disabilities in HE are to:
    1. Extend DSA payments to part-time and to postgraduate students.
    2. Clarify with professional bodies their policies about entry into the professions by people with disabilities. HEIs have said that in some professional areas this is a major influence on their willingness to recruit students with disabilities.
    3. Encourage those working with disabled students to seek the professional qualifications that are now being developed.
    4. Promote the establishment of a professional group for people working with students with disabilities.
    5. Maintain and develop a central resource to work with HEIs to develop their services and promote good practice.
    6. Review national promotional literature and materials and develop these in appropriate formats and media
    7. Consider establishing an independent complaints and grievance procedure to deal with any applicants who feel discriminated against on the grounds of their disability.
    8. Review with the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) its audit inspections, to ensure that these cover disability issues and that its staff and audit teams are trained to deal with these issues.
    9. Evaluate the developments in IT software and systems, and their impact on teaching regimes, so that these can be exploited more fully within the sector.
    10. Encourage the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to continue to review the utility of their statistics on disabled students, and to discuss with the sector possible improvements in the data.
    11. Encourage the Institute of Learning and Teaching (ILT) to give a high priority to learning support for disabled students, since this will have wide-ranging implications for all students. This might include the ILT channelling funds to HEIs for research projects
    12. Encourage student unions to review their own policies, practices and funding allocations. We recommend that a sabbatical officer or senior student representative is responsible for working with students with disabilities, to widen their opportunities to take part in sporting and extra-curricular activities.
        

Chapter 1: Introduction

11. The Higher Education Funding Councils for England and Wales commissioned Segal Quince Wicksteed Ltd (SQW) to undertake a study of base-level provision for disabled students in higher education. Sophie Corlett, Assistant Director of Skill (National Bureau for Students with Disabilities), worked with SQW throughout this study.
12. This study is designed to:
    • guide higher education institutions on provision for disabled students
    • act as a benchmark for students and institutions
    • inform future funding policy.
13. The Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) also asked the study team to explore and assess the possible funding implications of extending Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) to part-time and postgraduate students, and to those studying for a second degree since becoming disabled.
14. The study, which has aroused considerable interest in the sector, has been completed in a short time. This would not have been possible without the active co-operation and support of the 10 case-study institutions and the 96 higher education institutions (HEIs) that responded to the questionnaire. Their assistance gratefully acknowledged, as are their critical comments and ideas.
15. This report consists of the following:
    • chapter two is a discussion of the major issues which emerged during the study
    • chapter three contains recommendations
    • annexes describe in more detail the methodology, the findings of the case studies and results of the analysis of the questionnaires.