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Disability in higher education

Guidance on actions and policies that ensure disabled students and staff can participate fully in university life and flourish in their studies and work. These resources look at how to remove barriers to access in teaching, research activities and academic posts. The advice covers specifics such as ensuring accessibility of course materials, adapting assessment practices, factoring accessibility into field work, understanding the needs of neurodiverse students and staff and developing support services that enhance disabled students' experiences of higher education.

Woman in wheelchair and young black man looking at tablet

How to meaningfully include disabled people in patient and public involvement activities

Meaningful inclusion of disabled people in research activities helps ensure the resulting findings are useful for informing healthcare delivery in the real world. These practical tips explain how to do it

Anna Anderson, Amy M. Russell

University of Leeds

Advice on purposefully creating a sense of belonging among black students in majority white universities

How can we support Black neurodivergent students?

Black neurodivergent students face distinct barriers at the intersection of racism and ableism, so here are ways universities can go beyond generic policies to offer truly inclusive, intersectional support

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Students wearing a mask in class to protect against viral infection

Practical ways to support university students with long Covid

Educators can make it easier for students dealing with the symptoms of long Covid to continue their studies. In this video, Anne McConway explains the condition and offers strategies for safer, more welcoming classrooms for all learners

Anne McConway

Coventry University

Asian female student in wheelchair

How can higher education better support international students with disabilities?

Institutions need to work harder to understand international students with disabilities’ needs and challenges, and put in place more obvious and intentional communication with them

Carol Evans, Maurie van den Heever, Ralph E. McKinney

University of Salford, GoodX Software, Marshall University

Multiracial group of young people

Creating a visual story to demystify the university experience

Visual stories can help make universities’ complex array of services and experiences more accessible and less mysterious to staff, students and community members

Brooke Szücs, Ben Roden-Cohen

The University of Queensland

A mentor with a mentee

Level the playing field for student apprentices with ILPs

Read advice on how to support student apprentices with independent learning plans, including guiding them through the off-the-job hours logging process

Joskaudė Pakalkaitė

The University of Exeter

An academic disclosing their disability to their manager

Stop treating disability support as an afterthought

Find out what prevents university staff from disclosing invisible disabilities – and steps their institutions can take to change that

Christina Dzineku, James Murray

Independent academic, University of Buckingham

A student smiling to camera

Ways to make your learning materials accessible and inclusive

Advice on laying the groundwork for inclusive teaching and using tools that help students with specific needs thrive

Eunice Costilla Cruz , Nelly Ramírez Vázquez

Monterrey Institute of Technology

A laptop screen with many different storage drawers opening

Is collaboration the key to digital accessibility?

Digital accessibility is ethically important, and a legal requirement, but it’s also a lot of work. Here’s how universities can collaborate and pool their expertise to make higher education accessible for all

Sal Jarvis, George Rhodes

The University of Westminster

A group of students sitting in a circle while a teacher addresses them

How living with blepharospasm helped me become a better teacher

Read about a strategy that helped an educator living with an eye condition build emotional resilience and create a more inclusive classroom environment

Bhawana Shrestha

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Multiracial group of three people looking at a computer

Inclusive co-teaching can draw on educators’ lived experience

Joint teaching between academic faculty and experts by experience offers not only professional development for future teachers, but benefits student understanding as well. Here’s how to put it into practice

Pablo Rodríguez Herrero

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Female artist in her studio smiling to camera

Neurodiversity-affirming education is key to supporting students into the creative industries

More needs to be done to support neurodivergent people seeking careers in the creative industries. Here are some strategies

Hannah Breslin

University of the Arts London

A student being advised by a counsellor

How we support accessible learning for students with disabilities

See how effective support, from the provision of counselling services, Autism Spectrum Disorder induction days and appropriate work experience opportunities, ensures students with a disability or long-term condition succeed during their studies and beyond

Conor Curran, Shauna McKeown, Will Plunkett

Queen’s University Belfast

Students standing and chatting outside of a campus building

How unlocking data maximises student support and success

See how using sophisticated dashboards and targeted interventions can enable institutions to deliver personalised, preventative, proactive and predictive student support

Aleata Alstad-Calkins

University of Roehampton

A wheelchair basketball player

Address the lack of research in Para sport by embedding students in doctoral programmes

The Embedded Scientist Approach places doctoral students in Para sport-focused research programmes. Vicky Goosey-Tolfrey explores the lessons she learned from implementing it

Vicky Goosey-Tolfrey

Loughborough University

A filming set up of a female student speaking to camera

Ease autistic students’ transition to university with low-stimulus videos

University communications are often high impact and visually appealing. But this can be the opposite of what some of our students need

Norman Darwen, Mark Hughes

The University of Manchester

Neurodivergent leadership potential concept illustration

‘It just isn’t safe to disclose’

Neurodiverse academics face real and significant barriers to achieving positions of educational leadership. Here are considerations for universities to make promotion more equitable

Adrian J. Wallbank, Andrew Page-Towers

Oxford Brookes University

Careers advisor wirh a student

Careers services must step up to support students with disabilities

From shaping a culture of support to working with industry, careers services have an important role in improving employability for students with disabilities

Peter Hylslop, Barbara Mackie

The University of Newcastle, Australia

Man in wheelchair giving presentation

Creating inclusive spaces for inclusive events

Inclusivity efforts must go beyond physical accessibility to include how events are advertised and who is consulted and invited to speak, write Meredith Wilkinson and Leanne de Main. Here they offer eight practical ways to make shared spaces welcoming for all

Meredith Wilkinson, Leanne de Main

De Montfort University

A group of students gather round a laptop

Make EDI in higher education a reality by building it into your course design

When designing a new course, equality, diversity and inclusion should be among the first things to consider. Gareth Morris and Joy Edmonson show how

Gareth Morris, Joy Edmonson

The University of Nottingham Ningbo China

students playing a board game

Creating an impactful social group for neurodivergent students

Meet-ups can support neurodivergent students (mostly those with autism and ADHD) to navigate the social complexities of student life and the workplace. Here, Brooke Szücs and Ben Roden-Cohen share tips for creating inclusive neurodivergent settings, based on their experience

Ben Roden-Cohen, Brooke Szücs

The University of Queensland

neurodivergent concept

How to create an inclusive campus for neurodivergent students

Training, consultation and embracing UDL are a few actions that university leaders, faculty and staff can use to support different ways of thinking and learning on campus

Meghan Cosier, Audri Sandoval Gomez

Chapman University

Man using a standing desk to work

The power of pacing

Pacing is an energy-management technique that can help people with visible and non-visible disabilities to do more in their everyday lives, including in busy university jobs. Here, Meredith Wilkinson and Imogen Varle offer their top tips for putting it into practice

Meredith Wilkinson, Imogen Varle

De Montfort University

Students standing outside a campus building

A tailored onboarding programme can help set neurodivergent students up for success

The recent introduction of an early entry programme at the University of Newcastle created an unexpected but welcome opportunity to respond to a growing population of neurodivergent students commencing their studies

Scott Laing

The University of Newcastle, Australia

University student in wheelchair in study group

Disability, discrimination and redress: how to guide your students through the process of asking for reasonable adjustments

Students with disabilities are often dependent on the attitude and understanding of their lecturers and support staff. Here is advice on supporting requests for reasonable adjustments in the university environment

Kate Armond

Senior lecturer

A head made up of jigsaw puzzle pieces

On the neurodivergent campus, language matters

The neurodiversity movement has made great strides, but out-of-date, ableist language is still prevalent, even in academia. Carrie Ballantyne advises us to think about the words we use

Carrie Ballantyne

University of the West of Scotland

College teacher writing class agenda on blackboard

Changing instructor behaviour to improve learning for university students with ADHD

From making the class agenda clear and visible to building trust with learners, Sarah Sehlinger shares five simple tips that will improve the experience of your college course for students with ADD and ADHD

Sarah Sehlinger

Indiana University Southeast

A group of students smiling at eachother

Weaving gold from EDI straw: an intersectional approach

In this resource, the University of Manchester’s three academic leads for EDI explain how they work together and learn from each other

Dawn Edge, Rachel Cowen, Jackie Carter

The University of Manchester

job interview candidate in wheelchair

Get real about hiring people with disabilities

For too long ‘lived experience’ has been an inadequate requirement for jobs that make decisions for people with disabilities, and recruitment practices need to change, write Paul Harpur and Brooke Szücs

Paul Harpur, Brooke Szücs

The University of Queensland

Group of smiling students

How to support individuals with hearing loss at your institution

Many people with hearing impairments do not think they need support. Here are some ways to provide it

Simon Hayhoe

The University of Exeter

A guide dog waits with its owner on a pavement

How to create an inclusive learning environment for visually impaired students

Educators can make all the difference to their visually impaired students’ university experience. Kate Armond explains how

Kate Armond

Senior lecturer

Make universities disability inclusive

Make universities disability-inclusive, part two: co-creation, workloads and promotion processes

Institutions can become more accessible by co-creating or consulting on their university strategies and strategic changes. Other ways include managing student and staff workloads and making promotion processes more equitable

Meredith Wilkinson

De Montfort University

Two students outside campus smiling to camera

How can we create accessible and inclusive learning environments for neurodivergent students?

How can we actively engage neurodivergent students in the classroom? This resource offers practical guidance for fostering accessible and inclusive learning environments that honour diverse thinking and learning styles

Emilie Edwards

Middlesex University

A teacher in her 20s holding a laptop smiling at the camera while her students work at desks behind her

Make universities disability-inclusive, part one: feedback, access and language

Meredith Wilkinson offers advice on how to promote inclusivity for disabled students and staff at universities

Meredith Wilkinson

De Montfort University

A man working in large headphones

Autism in academic settings: unleashing unique strengths with adjustments

Practical accommodations that support autistic individuals in higher education and embrace the strengths they bring to the workforce, fostering inclusion and productivity

Imogen Varle

De Montfort University

Female vision-impaired student using laptop

How do we write alternative text for images in education?

Descriptions of images in online documents help all readers – not just those with vision impairment – to fully understand the photograph, chart or graph and make the information accessible

Matthew Deeprose

University of Southampton

Woman with prosthetic arm helping colleague

How to promote disabled women in academia

Disabled women are significantly under-represented in senior roles within universities. Here’s how – and why – institutions can and should support them better for career progression

Meredith Wilkinson, Kelly Pickard-Smith

De Montfort University, The University of Manchester

A man with a prosthetic leg sitting in a forest with his laptop

Ten steps to equity: making fieldwork accessible

Fieldwork can be isolating for disabled students and academics when it is not designed with inclusivity in mind. Becky Alexis-Martin shares 10 strategies to ensure disabled students and academics are included by field-based disciplines

Becky Alexis-Martin

University of Bradford

Neurodiverse students

How to make your university more neurodiverse friendly

With one in seven people in the UK being neurodiverse, a group of lecturers and students from Arden University lists ways in which universities can better cater to neurodiverse students

Finola Farrant, Emma Owen

Arden University

Teaching guides ADHD students in digital learning

With the right support, students with ADHD can thrive in digital learning environments

Don’t generalise about digital learning being problematic for students with ADHD. Rather, find the digital tools that develop their unique talents, argues Dustin Hosseini

Dustin Hosseini

University of Glasgow

Teen with fingers on lips indicating a quiet space for autistic students

Five steps to support autistic students on their higher education journey

As we strive to create inclusive environments, it’s essential to implement strategies that assist and cater to the unique challenges faced by autistic students, says Jane Dashwood

Jane Dashwood

The University of Warwick

Black student in wheelchair

For diverse communities to thrive, we need intersectional policies and practices

Inna Stepaniuk offers suggestions on how to design an inclusive and equitable campus

Inna Stepaniuk

Simon Fraser University

Disabled student at university

Apply the social model of disability to HE: viewing inclusion as a social good

William E. Donald and Marius Frank present 10 benefits to applying a disability framework that empowers individuals to create a more inclusive society

William E. Donald, Marius Frank

University of Southampton, Ronin Institute, Microlink

Hands typing on a Braille keyboard

What I’ve learned from a decade of working with a disability in academia

Meredith Wilkinson gives her younger self advice on climbing the academic ladder in an able-bodied world, but also calls for greater support for academics with disabilities

Meredith Wilkinson

De Montfort University

ADHD in the head of a university student

ADHD in higher education: is digital learning making it worse?

Hopping between multiple apps and platforms can easily overwhelm students with ADHD – we must be alert to the effects of too much digital multitasking, says Adrian J. Wallbank

Adrian J. Wallbank

Oxford Brookes University

EDI students

We need systemic change to tackle EDI in education

Tackling discrimination in business and society requires us to change the ways we deal with ‘difference’ in education, writes Sankalp Chaturvedi

Sankalp Chaturvedi

Imperial College London

Inclusion at university

We need an integrated approach to inclusion in higher education

Carol Evans makes the case for an Integrated Inclusion Framework, which would harmonise competing but overlapping EDI agendas to create aligned change that benefits everyone

Carol Evans

Cardiff University

A group of young researchers talking, one of them is in a wheelchair.

Listening, learning and responding to disabled students

Lessons from a group of disabled postgraduate researchers on steps that every university and tutor can take to better support disabled students

Jackie Carter, Laura Howard

The University of Manchester

Dyspraxia in academia and universities

Those of us with dyspraxia are frequently affected by academic ableism

The actions, inertia and discretion of individual academics can be a key driver of ableism – here’s what you and your institution can do to help, says John Macklin

John Macklin

University of East London

A young man in a wheelchair heading towards a university building

Ten steps to recruitment equity for disabled academics

Disabled academics are under-represented across university departments. Becky Alexis-Martin and Jennifer Leigh share 10 strategies to enhance disability inclusion throughout the academic recruitment process

Becky Alexis-Martin, Jennifer Leigh

University of Kent