Report 99/44

Information for students with disabilities: request for disability statements

Executive summary

Purpose

1. This document requests HE institutions (HEIs) funded by the HEFCE and DENI to revise, update and publish their disability statements as a condition of their grant.

Key points

2. As a result of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, all UK higher and further education institutions are required to produce and publish information that outlines their policies and provision for students with disabilities. We require HEFCE and DENI-funded HEIs to produce and publish disability statements every three years. Statements were first published in England and Northern Ireland in January 1997; revised and updated versions should be published in the summer of 2000.

3. We commissioned good practice guidance to help institutions revise and improve their disability statements (see HEFCE 98/66).

Action required

4. All HEFCE and DENI-funded HEIs should send four copies of their revised and updated disability statement to Richard Townend at the HEFCE no later than Friday 7 July 2000.

Background

5. As a result of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), HEIs funded by the HEFCE and DENI must produce and publish disability statements as a condition of their grant.

Purpose

6. The purpose of disability statements is to provide applicants and students with information on an institution's provision for students with disabilities. The information included in statements should:

• target students
• be written in a 'student friendly' style comparable to that of other institutional documents aimed at students
• be produced in accessible formats.

7. The HEFCE and DENI will not use the information given by institutions in their disability statements for funding purposes. If we do require information on an institution's disability provision to inform funding allocations we will make a separate request. We are asking for copies of revised and updated statements so that we can confirm that we have met our statutory duty arising from the 1995 DDA.

Process

8. We have set a return date of July 2000 for revised and updated statements to allow institutions a full year to make appropriate changes and additions. We encourage institutions to use this time to ensure that all parts of the institution are aware of, and have an opportunity to contribute to, the disability statement. This should include not only specialist disability support and services, but also academic departments; staff responsible for estates, learning resources and information technology; and the students union. Involving a range of staff will help to promote an institution-wide approach to provision for students with disabilities.

Good practice

9. To help institutions improve their disability statements, we commissioned the Higher Education Information Services Trust (HEIST) to produce good practice guidance. The full HEIST report (HEFCE 98/66) is available from the HEFCE web-site (see HEFCE publications at http://www.hefce.ac.uk) and provides guidance on content, presentation, language and accessibility.

10. Although HEFCE 98/66 is the primary source of guidance for institutions, we would like draw particular attention to a number of key points:

1. Students did not generally consider the title 'disability statement' to be user friendly, and this discouraged them from making full use of the statements. It would be preferable if revised and updated statements were entitled 'Information for students with disabilities'. 'Disability statement' should only be used by institutions as a sub-title to provide continuity, and in their dealings with the HEFCE and DENI.
2. When we requested the first disability statements in 1997 we asked institutions to structure information under three headings: policy, current provision and planned developments (see HEFCE 96/8). The common structure proved useful in helping students cross-refer between different institutions' statements. However, the diverse nature of HEIs meant that many institutions found this structure limiting. Therefore, we propose to leave the exact structure of statements to individual institutions.
3. However, the good practice report recommends that all disability statements should include the following information:
   1. A summary setting out the institution's approach to students with disabilities.
   2. Details of how a disabled student's application would be treated.
   3. The facilities and equipment available for students with disabilities.
   4. The accessibility of the institution's estate.
   5. Any institutional assistance in setting up personal care support systems.
   6. Sources of help in the institution for disabled students.
   7. Any special arrangements for studying, assessments and examinations.
   8. Brief details of any financial support available to disabled students.
   9. Details of procedures for monitoring provision for disabled students.
   10. Where possible, details of proposed disability-related developments in the institution over the next three years.
   11. A named contact so a student can follow up information provided in the statement.

4. We would expect institutions to be able to provide their disability statement to students, on request, in a variety of formats including large print, audio, Braille and electronically.

Publishing disability statements

11. Institutions have a statutory requirement to publish their disability statements. To make their statements publicly available institutions are encouraged to:

1. Include a reference to the disability statement in the official prospectus, with details of where to obtain a copy.
2. Notify applicants who indicate during application or admission that they have a disability, of the existence, purpose and availability of the statement.
3. Include the disability statement on the institution's own web-site.
4. Contact the Careers Advisory Network on Disability Opportunities (CanDo) which mounts disability statements on its web-site free of charge. The CanDo web-site already contains around 100 disability statements.

Future updates

12. Institutions will be asked to update their statements again in 2003. However, we encourage institutions to review their statements annually to ensure the information provided to students is accurate and up to date.

Additional information

13. In revising and updating statements, institutions should note the following:

1. In January 1999 the HEFCE and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales published a report taking a first look at base-level provision for students with disabilities. This report is likely to inform further discussion on base-level provision over the longer-term, but it does provide an initial frame of reference for students when reading disability statements.
2. The HEFCE requires institutions to produce corporate plans and annual operating statements (see HEFCE 99/30), as well as widening participation statements (see HEFCE 99/33). These documents provide the Council with information on institutions' activities, and so have a different purpose from that of disability statements, which provide information to students. However, the information provided in disability statements should take account of these other institutional documents.
3. The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) is currently producing a code of practice for HE on students with disabilities. This will include guidance on institutional arrangements to support students with disabilities, including information for students. The code will form part of the framework for academic review, which will lead to the publication of reports on the quality and standards of educational provision. The QAA expects the code of practice to be available in December 1999.

Monitoring

14. In 2000 we plan to monitor the extent to which disability statements generally meet the good practice guidance. This work will inform our discussions with the DfEE on the level and quality of provision for students with disabilities in the higher education sector as a whole.

Action required

15. Institutions are requested to publish a revised and updated statement, and submit four hard copies no later than Friday 7 July 2000 to:

Richard Townend
HEFCE
Northavon House
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1QD

Further information

16. Annex A provides information on where to obtain the reports mentioned in this document, and contact details for CanDo and the QAA.

17. If you would like to discuss the issues raised in this document please contact:

Richard Townend, tel 0117 931 7115, e-mail r.townend@hefce.ac.uk
Jenni Newman, tel 0117 931 7441, e-mail j.newman@hefce.ac.uk

Annex A

Sources of further information

HEFCE publications 1. 'Disability statements: a guide to good practice' (HEFCE 98/66, November 1998)

2. 'Guidance on base-level provision for students with disabilities in higher education institutions' (HEFCE 99/04, January 1999)

All our publications are available on the web from http://www.hefce.ac.uk

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

Quality Assurance Agency
Southgate House
Southgate Street
Gloucester
GL1 1UB

Web-site http://www.qaa.ac.uk/

Careers Advisory Network on Disability Opportunities (CanDo)

The CanDo Service
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4YW

Telephone external: (+44) (0) 1524 594370
Minicom calls: (+44) (0) 1524 594370 (please use announcer)
E-mail cando@lancs.ac.uk
Web-site http://cando.lancs.ac.uk