Highlighting barriers to
Higher education
This September, young people around the country will embark on the next step in their education as they attend university, but for disabled students, there are factors creating a barrier to their future
W
hen young people begin to research their next steps after school, there are plenty of organisations ready to offer advice, each of them advising disabled students that universities should provide suitable accessible accommodation and support. All universities have a legal duty to think about how to accommodate disabled students and to remove barriers in education, but what happens when this doesn’t go far enough? A lack of adequate funding, accessible accommodation and consistent reasonable adjustments are all contributing to barriers, but without further attention, support and funding, these can’t be overcome. “These things are only going to prevent young disabled people from entering higher education in general, and those that are already on courses won’t be able to continue their studies,” advises Rundip Thind, education officer at Disability Rights UK. The organisation runs the Disabled Students Helpline which offers information to students, apprentices and trainees via phone and email, advising on applications,
This is having a major impact on young people’s mental health
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adjustments, your rights, funding and more.
ACCOMMODATION
At the end of 2022, student housing charity Unipol (www.unipol.org.uk) warned of a student housing crisis powered by a shift from universities running their own accommodation and instead, partnering with private providers. These fears were confirmed when the StuRents accommodation portal, which represents 70 per cent of student beds in the UK, released data that suggested there was a shortfall of around 207,000 student beds nationally. Alongside the general shortage of accommodation, cost is also of concern. “We know that specialist accommodation will cost more than standard accommodation,” states Rundip. “If your accommodation is costing you more solely because of a disability, our advice has been to approach the university around making a reasonable adjustment to the cost of that accommodation. “In those instances, we would recommend bringing the disability advisors within the university into the dialogue, because it is a disabilityrelated issue.” In some cases, Disabled Students Allowance – a dedicated grant for disabled people in higher education which is provided by the government – can help cover this additional cost, but when this financial support also has to cover specialist equipment, non-medical helpers, travel and more, it might not be enough to fill the gap. One thing is clear: more funding is
necessary to aid in all of these areas and ensure young disabled people can attend the institution of their choice in a way that suits their needs.
FUNDING
“A lot of people reach out to us because they want to know about additional funding sources to bridge the gap between their student loans and the cost of living,” reveals Rundip. “People are struggling every day with the cost of things like rent, bills, even food, and in most cases the loan increases year on year currently don’t match inflation.” The situation is concerning across the UK, but particularly in England where the student finance package will increase by just 2.8 per cent for the 2023-24 academic year, while inflation remains above 10 per cent. “For students hoping to start higher education in September, there is huge concern for how they will actually make ends meet,” explains Rundip. “This is having a major impact on young people’s mental health, and on parents. A lot of the time parents are having to step in to support young people to remain in higher education. “In the cost of living crisis parents can just about support themselves, and now they have to also support a young person which can be a big stretch for some people.” Without increased funding, especially for disabled students, people will be forced to take a different path, or to withdraw from courses they are already on.