New report: what works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students

The report – which reviewed over 400 articles and included a series of consultations with experts – found limited causal evidence on what works to address these inequalities.

Key findings from the report:

• Report finds evidence is lacking on what works to support disabled students in higher education.
• The research suggests that there is a lack of consistency in data collection methods so making comparisons between higher education providers (HEPs) is difficult.
• Disability inclusion requires a comprehensive institutional approach, but there is a lack of evidence on the impact of each particular aspect including leadership, training and support, communication and staff and student voice.
• Despite the legal requirements and funding there is little research on the effectiveness of reasonable adjustments (accommodations).
• Support to help disabled students transition into higher education is a dominant theme in the literature. The review found evidence that transitions support can be effective for enabling disability inclusion.

“Despite best intentions to improve disability inclusion in universities and colleges across the country, we’re still very much in the dark about what works. This is particularly concerning given the rapid rise in young people reporting a disability and the persistent equality gaps in degree outcomes and employment rates for disabled students.

I encourage all higher education providers to take heed of the recommendations outlined in today’s report. We need to work in partnership with disabled students to better understand their needs, further develop the evidence base on what works and ensure efforts across the sector are not made in vain.”

Dr Eliza Kozman, Deputy Director, TASO

Recommendations from TASO based on the findings:

• The evidence suggests that there is a need for more and better evaluation of interventions to address inequalities for disabled students in HE.
• Effective and consistent data collection is required to understand and address inequalities in HE and therefore must be improved.
• Better evidence is needed on reasonable adjustments: on how they are delivered and their impact on disability inclusion.
• Scrutiny is needed of ‘whole institution’ approaches to tackling disability inclusion and whether they are having an impact.
• Access and Participation Plans (APPs) should be monitored in terms of how far they commit to addressing disability inequalities, and whether and how they will evaluate such commitments.

Based on the findings, TASO is working with higher education providers to develop more and better evidence on improving equality gaps for disabled students.

The evidence review assessed 408 articles according to the Office for Students’ (OfS) standards of evidence, along with 83 expert reports and a series of consultations with experts and an analysis of the OfS’ data dashboard and 68 APPs.

The review that informed the substantive content in this report was conducted by the University of Lincoln on behalf of TASO.

Download the report: what works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students

If you have any questions around the report, or would like the report in another format, you can get in touch with us at info@taso.org.uk.