What are the (dis)advantages of students who identify as having a disability or a special educational need, in having the support of a SENCo in Higher Education?
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
ENGAGEMENT
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Session Outline
SENCos work in schools co-ordinating teaching and learning of those who are identified as having a disability or specific learning difficulty (DfE & DoH, 2015). Terminology often contested (Terzi, 2005; Norwich, 2010) as it reinforces ‘difference’; reminding us that a focus on inclusion can lead to exclusion (O’Brien, 2020). Are the increased numbers of students in HE, (HESA 2022) with additional needs testament to the success of SEND support in schools? Or, we cynically suggest, has neo liberalisation of universities and the need for wider markets played a role in improved inclusion, although the labels used by the OFS (in Williams et al. 2019) fit a deficit model e.g.impairment and problems.
Has the SENCo been central to the success of students with additional needs accessing HE with 15.9% of UK students disclosing disability in 2020/21, almost tripling the 5.4% in 2003/04 (Advance HE 2023). Their role includes identifying gaps in knowledge and skills, finding ways to provide training to staff meeting every learner’s needs (DfE 2021).
Transition to HE where nobody has a holistic overview of a learners needs can be a challenge for students with additional needs. Success is greater when transition is well planned and students have support from family, peers and financial (Morina, 2017). Universities, became legally obliged, under the Equality Act (2010), to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students following the DSA cuts in 2015 (Williams et al. 2019; Welton 2023). In HE, the processes and systems a young person is familiar with suddenly shifts responsibility from the professional to the student which can be problematic as only 2 in 5 students had heard of Disability Students allowance (DSA),(Hubble and Bolton, 2021). This funding is required before the HE institute can put some support in place, especially that from outside agencies (Williams et al, 2019) e.g. signing or note taking. To address the issue of reasonable adjustments some universities have set up a SENCO role to support teaching staff. In contrast to the university disability teams, well-being teams and mental health teams, this role offers support to teaching staff and tries to ensure that students do not ‘fall through the gaps’
As a post-92 institution our students might be described as ‘non-traditional’; often older than 18, are parents and have returned to education after a break and who have English as an additional language. We are keen not to problematise these differences; many of our students disrupt notions of deficit despite Reay (2016) assertion that students from underrepresented groups have a poorer experience of university and those with SEND being underrepresented. (Taneja – Johnson, 2021).
We are aiming to explore how personal tutors can build on the success of wider services, to support the personalisation of transition to HE. Support growth and independence whilst preparing them for academic success and their future careers. This workshop could explore ideas and problematise current processes, including how we can truly act upon student voice, and aims to find solutions to best support the increasingly diverse students of our future.
Learning Outcomes
Please be ready to explore the problems and benefits to identification and the impact of learners in all HE settings.
Bibliography
Avance HE (2023) Equality+ higher education Students statistical report 2023 Written and produced by Advance HE. Data provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
Chantziara, S., Craddock, I., McCallum, C.H. and Brigden, A.L.C. (2023) ‘Views and Needs of Students, Parents, and Teachers on Closed-Circuit Television, Proximity Trackers, and Access Cards to Facilitate COVID-19 Contact Tracing in Schools: Thematic Analysis of Focus Groups and Interviews’ JMIR Formative Research (7), pp. 1-11. Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2918539361/fulltextPDF/26F19A08CBE6459BPQ/1?accountid=17234&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals (Accessed 25 January 2024).
DfE & DoH (2015) SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years Guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0 to 25, from 1 September 2014. SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
DfE (2021) Teachers’ Standards Guidance for school leaders, school staff and governing bodies Teachers’ Standards guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Equality Act 2010: guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
HESA (2022) Who’s studying in HE?: Personal characteristics (Detailed disability and ethnicity breakdowns). Available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-he/characteristics accessed 30.01.24
Hubble, S & Bolton, P. (2021) Support for disabled students in higher education in England House of Commons Briefing Paper Number 8716, 22 February 2021 Support for disabled students in higher education in England (parliament.uk)
Maguire, M. and Delahunt, B. (2017) ‘Doing a Thematic Analysis: A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide for Learning and Teaching Scholars’, All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 8 (3), pp. 3351-33514. Available at: http://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j
Competencies
This session addresses the following competencies of the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring