What are reasonable adjustments

Under the terms of the Equality Act 2010, the university is committed to make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure that disabled students are not placed at a substantial disadvantage in their access to services, assessment and teaching.

How does the university decide what is reasonable?

In making a judgement about what is reasonable the university will consider the following:

the resources available
the cost of the adjustment
the practicality of the changes
the potential benefit to other staff, students and visitors
the need to maintain competence standards

Wherever possible the univerity makes adjustments which anticipate the needs of students, staff and visitors with disabilities.

Some examples of anticipatory adjustments

Induction loops in main lecture theatres and portable loops for hearing disabilities
Good access to most buildings
TextHelp Read and Write Gold™ and Inspiration software available on networked PCs
Parking for blue badge holders
Magnification and reading software on dedicated machines in libraries
Text to speech and mind mapping software networked throughout the university

Individual reasonable adjustments

Where anticipatory adjustments do not meet a student’s need they are invited to speak to the Disability & Dyslexia Centre for advice on individual reasonable adjustments.

Individual reasonable adjustments will only be considered where a student has met with a disability/dyslexia adviser and provided supporting medical or diagnostic evidence. Therefore it is important that you register with the Disability & Dyslexia Centre as soon as possible to allow time for your needs to be considered and any adjustments put in place.

Examples of reasonable adjustments

More about typical adjustments made for common disabilities or specific learning difficulties.