Disability support

Wadham College works closely with the University’s Disability Advisory Service to ensure we offer appropriate support both in working with individual students and ensuring a fair and positive environment for all.

Over 7000 students at the University have a declared disability of some kind, just over a quarter of the total student body. The University’s approach to disability support, to which all Oxford colleges are committed, is governed by the Common Framework for Supporting Disabled Students.

The University's Disability Advisory Service has a short, helpful guide to disability provision at Oxford, which includes a map outlining the journey of a disabled student at Oxford from the point of application to course completion; this document can be found here.

Given the collegiate nature of Oxford University, with some forms of support provided by colleges and some by the central University or individual departments, it can sometimes be hard to know who to talk to about disability-related issues. Students are encouraged to contact the College Disability Advisor in the first instance (Mike Froggatt) who is happy to meet with them and/or signpost them to the member of staff who is best placed to assist them. All disability-related enquiries are treated in confidence, and information related to disability is only shared with other staff (including tutors), with a student’s express permission.

• The University Disability Advisory Service: The University’s Disability Advisory Service (DAS) supports students across the University; it employs a team of specialist advisors who provide information and advice on disability issues, assess disabled students’ needs, and advise colleges and departments on forms of support that they should implement in order to support disabled students. Each college has two link advisors at the Disability Advisory Service, with whom it has regular contact; details of Wadham’s link advisors can be found here.
  
• College Disability Coordinator: The College’s Academic Administrator (Mike Froggatt) has day-to-day responsibility for provision of disability support for Wadham students, and for ensuring that the College implements any recommendations that the Disability Advisory Service makes in relation to Wadham students. You are welcome to contact him with any questions you might have relating to disability support. Students who already have a Student Support Plan in place are also welcome to contact him if they feel any of its recommendations are not being implemented.
  
• College Disability Leads: Wadham has two Disability Leads who have strategic oversight of disability related matters on the College’s behalf; the Domestic Bursar(for matters relating to accommodation and facilities) and the Senior Tutor (for academic matters).
  
• Departmental Disability Coordinator: Each University department has a departmental disability coordinator, who is responsible for implementing recommendations made by DAS where this would be their responsibility (this is likely to relate mainly to the organisation of lectures, laboratories and fieldwork for undergraduates, but might cover any aspect of academic provision for graduate students). A list of departmental disability coordinators can be found here, and the College’s disability coordinator is happy to liaise with them on behalf of students where necessary.

The various staff across the University supporting students with a disability make use of the Equality Act 2010 criteria when considering what constitutes a disability. This includes:

• Sensory impairments such as those affecting vision or hearing
• Mobility impairments, including musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis
• Long-term mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders or eating disorders
• Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD
• Autism spectrum conditions
• Long-term illnesses health conditions, such as cancer, epilepsy, chronic heart disease, and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, HIV or diabetes

Under the Equality Act 2010 a person is considered disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial ('more than minor or trivial') and long-term (lasting or likely to last 12 months or more) adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal daily activities.

‘Daily activities’ include things people tend to do on a regular or daily basis, such as shopping, reading and writing, getting washed and dressed, preparing and eating food, walking or travelling, and taking part in social activities. They can also include study and education-related activities.

Conditions of a fluctuating or progressive nature may be covered, and some diseases like cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis are included immediately from initial diagnosis.

Students seeking disability support will need to provide evidence confirming the nature of their condition; further details of the forms of evidence required can be found here. Please note that given current NHS waiting times for a formal diagnosis of ADHD or an autism spectrum condition a letter/certificate from your GP, confirming that you have been referred for assessment by a specialist and are therefore on an assessment waiting list will be sufficient to register with the Disability Advisory Service and access some forms of student support.

We encourage all applicants to the University who have a disability to declare this on their application. All applications are assessed purely on academic merit and potential, according to the published selection criteria for the course they have applied for. The University and colleges view applications from disabled students on the same grounds as those from other candidates.

There are two particular advantages to declaring a disability at the earliest possible opportunity:

First, it ensures that we can implement any adjustments that might be required when assessing your suitability for the course for which you’ve applied; for instance, if you are applying for an undergraduate course and have been shortlisted for an online interview, it alerts us to the fact that we may need to discuss with you, or with your school, any adjustments that might be required to these interviews to ensure that you aren’t placed at a disadvantage compared to other applicants.

Second, any applicant who receives an offer of a place from the College and who has declared a disability will be contacted by the University’s Disability Advisory Service well in advance of their arrival in Oxford and asked to provide evidence of their disability. This enables a study needs assessment to be conducted and a Student Support Plan (see below) to be put in place prior to a student’s arrival, ensuring that the transition to studying at Oxford is as smooth as possible.

We encourage students with disabilities to declare them at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure that any appropriate support can be put in place in a timely fashion. If you did not disclose your disability when applying to the University you can do it in one of the following ways, either prior to your arrival in Oxford or once you are enrolled on course:

• Complete the DAS registration form
• Update the disability field on Student Self Service if you are a matriculated student; DAS will then contact you directly to explore your support requirements
• Contact the College Disability Coordinator

The majority of disabilities and long-term medical conditions need to be diagnosed by a medical professional before any support can be implemented, so if a student enrolled on course believes they have an undiagnosed disability we normally advise them to contact the GP in the first instance. The majority of students at Wadham are registered with the college GP at the Beaumont Elms Practice a short walk from the College. Please note that the College cannot provide financial assistance with the costs associated with seeking a medical diagnosis via a private healthcare provider.

Students who suspect they have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia or dyspraxia may be able to arrange a diagnostic assessment via the University’s Disability Advisory Service; further details can be found here and by contacting disability@admin.ox.ac.uk.

Normally if a student needs adjustments put in place on grounds of a disability this will be on the basis of recommendations made in a Student Support Plan (SSP) drawn up by the University’s Disability Advisory Service and then circulated to a student’s college and department. Student Support Plans can include recommendations for adjustments to teaching, assessment and facilities, including university accommodation; however, each SSP is individual and based on discussions between DAS and the student concerned. Further details about Student Support Plans can be found here and details of how to register with the Disability Advisory Service can be found here.

Once a Student Support Plan has been drawn up, the DAS advisor responsible for it will ask a student’s permission to circulate it to colleagues; generally, it is made available to the college disability coordinator, the departmental disability coordinator and the Disability Librarian at the Bodleian Library in the first instance. However, a student can withhold permission to have a Student Support Plan shared with any of these individuals if they wish. Once a disability coordinator has received an SSP they will then share the plan with those who need to implement it on a strictly need-to-know basis (e.g. to a student’s tutors in the case of adjustments to teaching).

Due to the high number of students that the Disability Advisory Service work to support, please be aware that it can take some time to register with the service, conduct a needs assessment and issue a Student Support Plan. We would normally anticipate 6-8 weeks elapsing between a student initiating contact with DAS and getting support for their disability implemented (that is, approximately a full Oxford term). It is for this reason we strongly encourage students to disclose disabilities, and register with DAS, at the earliest possible opportunity, rather than waiting until they experience difficulties and feel the need for immediate support; even where students do not feel the need for support on enrolment, it is better to have confirmation of their entitlement to that support on record in the event it is needed at a later date.

Student Support Plans typically include recommendations for adjustments to the way in which a student is taught; these will be implemented primarily by the college (in the case of undergraduates) or the department (in the case of graduate students). An SSP will normally recommend that students be granted access to lecture recordings, be given access to teaching materials in advance of classes and lectures, be provided with structured reading lists, and be permitted occasional flexibility with regard to the deadlines for formative work such as weekly essays. Other recommendations with regard to adjustments to teaching may be made on a case-by-case basis, and in some cases a student’s SSP will recommend they are provided with specialist one-to-one mentoring or access to assistive technologies funded by Disabled Students’ Allowance (see below).

SSPs can also include recommendations for adjustments to assessment on grounds of a disability, such as provision of extra time or rest breaks in exams, or the use of a computer in exams which would otherwise be handwritten. The deadline for getting exam adjustments formally approved is Friday of 4th week of the term prior to the scheduled assessment (meaning midway through Hilary Term - that is mid-February - for the majority of exams taking place in Trinity Term). The need to meet this deadline to ensure that any exam adjustments that are required are in place is another reason we encourage early enrolment with the Disability Advisory Service.

Student Support Plans can also provide guidance to colleges and departments on adjustments that might be required to facilities and, in the case of colleges, specific recommendations as to the type of accommodation that a student requires. If the only adjustment that a student with a disability or long-term medical condition anticipates requiring during their time at Oxford is some form of adjustment to their accommodation it may be possible to arrange this on provision of appropriate medical evidence to the College, without having to register with the University’s Disability Advisory Service; please contact the College’s Disability Coordinator for more details.

Due to the age of many of the buildings on the main college site, some areas are not fully accessible to students or visitors with physical disabilities. However, the College has a number of modern rooms including six purpose-built or modified en-suite rooms for students with a range of disabilities, including one room with a hoist. Full details of the accommodation available to students can be found here, whilst further information on our facilities can be found on the Accessibility page of the College website and in the University’s Access Guide for Wadham.

Students with a Student Support Plan in place will generally be granted extended borrowing rights at college and departmental libraries, and additional recommendations may be made with regard to students with particular needs (e.g. large-font texts). More information about support available to disabled students in accessing Oxford’s libraries can be found here.

The majority of the College library is not currently accessible to students with some form of mobility impairment, as the collection is housed over three levels without lift access. However, the library catalogue is searchable online and the College librarians are happy to deliver and collect books for students with mobility issues which would otherwise prevent them accessing books they require.

Some forms of support which are available to students with disabilities (such as non-medical human support e.g. mentoring or assistive technologies) come with associated costs, which can be covered by Disabled Students’ Allowance in the case of most UK-domiciled students. Where such forms of support are deemed a reasonable adjustment, the College’s link advisors at the Disability Advisory Service will provide guidance on how to go about submitting an application for funding as part of drawing up a Student Support Plan; any queries relating to applying for DSA can be directed to disability@admin.ox.ac.uk.

The University will cover equivalent costs for non-UK-domiciled students who are not eligible for DSA.