Scottish
Disability
Team
NB This is the second page of the online version of the SDT Guidance Note Guidance On International Courses and Disability Issues, published in April 2007.
Under Part 4 of the DDA, a university must not discriminate against disabled students (including prospective and former students). Discrimination will arise where a university treats disabled students less favourably than non-disabled students, where they are placed at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with someone who is not disabled. A university has to take such steps as it is reasonable for it to have to take in all the circumstances to prevent to disadvantage to a disabled student - in other words the university has to make a reasonable adjustment.
There is no defence in law to a failure to make a reasonable adjustment. If the adjustment is "reasonable" it is required to be made.
Note 1: The way in which discrimination occurs under Part 4 of the DDA has now been changed by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) (Further and Higher Education) Regulations 2006, which implement the European Employment Framework Directive (2000/78/EC). The Regulations introduce the concept of "direct" and "indirect" discrimination, as well as an amended duty to make reasonable adjustments. There are also new provisions relating to discrimination which arise through harassment.
The duty not to treat a disabled student less favourably and the duty to make reasonable adjustments shall apply to students of a university who are studying on international courses. As this guidance deals primarily with disability issues which are most likely to fall under the duty to make reasonable adjustments, it is this element of the DDA that is more likely to be relevant in relation to students of a university studying on an international course.
The DDA contains three elements to the duty of "reasonable adjustment":
Factors which should be considered in determining what type of adjustment would be "reasonable" would include:
The provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) (Further and Higher Education) Regulations 2006, relating to the provision of Post-16 Education, came into effect in September 2006. Previously, a university could "justify" failing to make a reasonable adjustment if it could show that the reason for failing to make such reasonable adjustment was substantial (that is to say, not just minor or trivial); and was also material to the individual circumstances of the particular case.
However, one of the significant changes that has come with the new provisions is the removal of the "justification defence" previously available to a university for failure to make a reasonable adjustment. Under the new rules, there is no longer any justification defence for treating a student less favourably than someone else, or failing to make a reasonable adjustment in such circumstances.