Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
Independent Review into Part Time Higher Education Study in
Wales Consultation Response
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities promotes opportunities to
empower young people and adults with any kind of disability to realise their
potential in further, continuing and higher education, training and employment
throughout the United Kingdom. Skill works by providing information and advice
to individuals, promoting good practice and influencing policy in partnership with
disabled people, service providers and policy makers.
Skill welcomes the opportunity to respond to this document. However, as Skill is
primarily concerned with the impact on disabled learners in Wales this response
is focussed on particular points which are key to our remit.
It is important to remember that under the new Disability Equality Duty, to come
into force in December 2006, the Assembly will be required to produce a
Disability Equality Scheme (DES). The DES must demonstrate how the
Assembly ensures the involvement of disabled people in its decision-making
processes. Monitoring of the impact of all decisions on disabled stakeholders is
a crucial part of this process, and equality and accessibility should be a
considered element of all planning across Wales. The Assembly should therefore
seek to ensure that disabled stakeholders are fully involved when taking
decisions on funding part-time study in Wales.
Q1 &Q2. For the purpose of this review, what defines a “part-time” student?
Should all levels and volumes of part-time study be considered by the
review?
Many disabled students find that part-time study is the most appropriate route
into learning for them. Many may come to study as mature students, perhaps
because they did not have positive experiences of education when younger, or
they became disabled later in life. This often means that jobs, family or other
commitments preclude full-time participation. Part-time study is also the only
choice for students with impairments which cause them to tire easily, be more
susceptible to stress, or to need time to attend hospital appointments, for
example. Students for whom learning must take place more slowly, eg due to
fatigue, or those who are integrating back into society after a period of illness or
difficulty may choose to study at less than 50% and their needs must be
considered as part of this review. Therefore Skill recommends that the review
consider the requirements of students on HE courses comprising less than
50% of a full-time course.
Q3 Should a distinction be made between Welsh domiciled students and
those living elsewhere as will be the case for full time students from 2007?
Wales has the highest proportion of Higher Education students, both full and
part-time, declaring a disability of all the countries of the UK1, and yet disabled
people are still under-represented in the student population UK-wide2. In
recognition of this, disabled people comprise one of the target groups in the
Welsh Assembly Government’s Reaching Wider strategy.
In England it was recently announced that part-time HE students would benefit
from an increase in financial support, with grants for those studying at 50% of a
full time course rising from £590 to £750. The money available from Hardship
Funds will also increase from £3m to £12m. The new student support system in
Wales recognises the unique position of the country; its combination of
bilingualism, rurality and areas of low economic status making the needs of many
students in Wales greater than those from elsewhere in the UK. Part-time
students would greatly benefit from a Wales-specific funding system and a review
of Financial Contingency Funds (FCFs) in the manner of that undertaken in
England. This would allow such Welsh-domiciled students the same opportunities
as their full-time counterparts and would facilitate greater participation by
disabled people, some of whom cannot undertake full-time study.
Skill Wales recommends that the distinction between Welsh domiciled and
other students for the purposes of student support are maintained for parttime students.
Q7Are there any issues relating to student support which you would wish
to draw to our attention regarding particular groups of part time students in
higher education in Wales?
There are two issues that Skill would like to draw to the review’s attention:
1.
The Rees Review of Student Support recommended research into an
“earn while you learn” scheme in Wales. It should be remembered that
some disabled students study part-time because their condition prevents
more intensive work or study. Expecting such students to contribute to the
cost of their education through paid employment may well be
discriminatory.
Skill recommends that the review carefully considers the impact on
disabled students of recommending supplementing income through
employment and ensures decisions are not discriminatory.
2.
The Disabled Students Allowance (DSA), which can pay for assistive
technology, personal support and other requirements, is often crucial in
ensuring that disabled students are able to undertake a course of study.
Some students are ineligible for DSA, and reliant on their institution to fund
the necessary support. Currently, disabled students in Higher Education
must attend a part-time or distance course comprising 50% or more of a
full-time course to be eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).
In addition, currently in Wales, postgraduate DSA support consists of one
“general” fund, with a maximum of £5640 per year per full-time student to
cover all requirements. For part-time students, this is pro rata. This is a
substantial drop from the money available at undergraduate level, which
includes separate budgets for equipment and non-medical helpers as well
as a “general” allowance. Postgraduate students also cannot claim travel
costs as undergraduates do. The Students Awards Agency in Scotland
has recently increased the level of DSA for postgraduate students who are
funded by SAAS to match that of undergraduates, which greatly assists
students in accessing higher degrees. There are, however, no plans to do
this in England, where the level is fixed at the same lower rate as in
Wales. Now that the Assembly has devolved powers for students support,
an increase in the level of DSA available to part-time postgraduate
students from Wales would be greatly beneficial in ensuring the
requirements of all students are fully met.
Skill therefore recommends that the Review reconsiders the DSA
support levels for all disabled part-time students, including
postgraduates, particularly the threshold of 50% attendance
requirement.
Skill Wales
Student Services
University of Glamorgan
CF37 3DL
October 2005
1.Higher
Education Funding Council for Wales statistics, 2003
Rights Commission Education Briefing, May 2005
2.Disability