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Further and higher education

This is a very brief overview of the 'post-16 education' rules in the DDA. A separate page gives more detail, including some examples from the Code of Practice. The rules normally apply to a student only if his or her stammer is a "disability" as defined in the DDA. There is also a link below to information on Disabled Students' Allowances which may be useful to fund an electronic fluency aid.

DDA rules in summary

The DDA rules on 'post-16 education' cover the further and higher education sectors, including publicly funded universities as well as some other bodies. Pupils in school are covered by the DDA rules for schools even if over 16, and most private colleges fall within Part 3 DDA.

Broadly, the rules cover less favourable treatment and harassment, and include a duty to make reasonable adjustments.

As regards less favourable treatment, the education provider may have a defence if it shows the treatment is 'justified'. However, there is no justification defence for 'direct discrimination'. One example of 'direct discrimination' given by the Code of Practice is a lecturer assuming that any student with a speech impairment would have difficulty participating in a debating session.

Examinations and assessments are subject to special rules. Basically, exams are aimed at assessing 'competence standards'. The way in which a standard is assessed is subject to the reasonable adjustment duty. However, there is a special 'justification' test for whether it is legitimate to assess a standard which disadvantages disabled people. See Oral assessments, and assessed presentations for examples.

It may be possible to resolve a DDA complaint using internal proceedures of the university etc. Otherwise, a claim can be made to the County Court (or Sheriff court in Scotland) subject to time limits. It is also possible to use the Disability Conciliation Service (www.dcs-gb.org).

The Disability Rights Commission has issued a Code of Practice, of which the courts must take account in applying the legislation. Amongst other things, the Code includes useful case studies (examples) of how the Commission envisages the rules working. Several of the examples relate to speech impairments.

For guidance going beyond the DDA, there is a useful article on the British Stammering Association website: How to succeed at university if you stammer (link to BSA website).

More detail on post-16 education rules...

Disabled students' allowances

This may be available to fund an electronic fluency aid such as Voiceamp or SpeechEasy, or text to speech (TTS) technology. More on Disabled students' allowances...

Higher and further education links

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Last updated 20th December, 2007