Progression into higher education for learners with specific learning difficulties

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Progression into higher education for learners
with specific learning difficulties

• The survey was commissioned by Aimhigher Humber,
  using funding provided by Aimhigher Yorkshire
  Humber.

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• An 18 year old with a disability or a health
  problem is 40 per cent as likely to enter higher
  education as an 18 year old without a disability
  or a health problem. (Audit Office, 2002)

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AchieveAbility

• Disabled learners face additional difficulties
  and barriers because support is organised in very
  different ways in the different levels of
  education.
• Each of the three levels of education has its own
  terminology, funding mechanisms and subsequent
  differences in the way support is provided.
• (May et al, 2006)

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Categories
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2005 UCAS statistics

• 24,517 applicants declared a disability (5.5 of
  the total)
• 13,137 (53.6) of the applicants who declared a
  disability had SpLDs.
• 81.9 of applicants with SpLDs were accepted, as
  were 80.4 of disabled applicants and 81.0 those
  who did not declare a disability.

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Staff comments
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More students with SpLDs

• Students are being identified earlier allowing
  strategies to be put in place that maximise
  potential. Good GCSE qualifications give the
  students the confidence to continue in further
  education.
• Access to extra time/laptops in exams means that
  larger numbers attain well enough to attempt 'A'
  level.

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HE teaching learning

• Because of their previous dependency on teaching
  assistant support, their independent study skills
  are not fully developed.
• They may struggle with organisational issues
  change, managing timetables, keeping up with note
  taking.
• The larger class sizes will make asking for help
  more difficult... And contact time is usually
  less.
• The issue for many dyslexics is more about
  organisation than learning per se Im not sure
  how HE makes allowances or offers support for
  this.

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Transition

• We start during IEP sessions and Annual
  Reviews both include strategies for smooth
  transition. The aim is to try for seamless
  transition, but thats harder at 18 because the
  options are wider Key Stage 4 to Key Stage 5 is
  more predictable, containable and local.

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Resources for SEN staff

• Resource sheets and a checklist to help with the
  application process even if its not useful for
  students it would be useful for staff.
• The more information the better - and the easier
  it is to find the better theres too little time
  to research things, everything is done on the
  hoof.

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• its a new experience having so many were
  learning as we go along.

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Year 12 students comments
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Aspiration v achievement

• Im thinking about it Ive not decided yet
  Ill wait until I have my A/S results before I
  decide Ill see what grades I get.
• Im considering a gap year depending on my
  grades I may need to resit some modules but I
  definitely want to go to university.

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Half way through Y12

• Sixth form tutorials are not about HE yet it
  seems a long way off. Ill start thinking in the
  Easter holidays.
• Theres some stuff in the study room, but
  nothing specific.

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Student concerns

• I do get worried theres a lot of support
  here, but I dont know whats available in HE.
• Theres a lot of lectures and my handwriting is
  slow, I worry about keeping up.

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Year 13 students comments
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Start of preparation

• In June just after the exams. We had a UCAS
  day.
• I started looking at universities and courses in
  the summer holidays.

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Advice about UCAS declartion

• I was just told to tick Yes.
• I was told its up to you if you tick it or
  not.
• I wasnt that worried about filling it in
  theyre not going to discriminate against you.

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Contact from HEIs

• Some universities sent me a form about
  difficulties.
• I was sent a form by one university, but it was
  all about mobility and access.
• One Russell Group university wanted a
  psychologists report and a school report before
  I was interviewed.
• Any funding comes from the local authority, so
  its not the universities you need to worry
  about.

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Advice about DSA

• No, but I know it exists. Ill find out about it
  through the internet.
• My sister gets it, so Mum knows what to do!

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Applying for DSA

• My parents rang the local authority and asked
  about it, but were told I couldnt apply until
  Ive enrolled at university.

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Guidance for Aimhigher Partnerships

• The new guidance (HEFCE 2008/05) is more specific
  about the targeting of disabled learners,
  including those with SpLDs, than previous
  versions have been
• Learners with a specific learning difficulty
  that have the potential to progress to HE will
  need to be targeted in association with
  specialist staff in schools, colleges and local
  authorities, and appropriate provision made
  available. (p.9, para. 36)

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Recommendations for schools

• School college Aimhigher coordinators should
  liaise with SEN staff to ensure that learners
  with SpLDs are appropriately involved in
  Aimhigher activities.
• Students with SpLDs (and with other disabilities)
  should be encouraged to start considering HE
  earlier than other students, so that they have
  time to research the support available to them,
  contact Student Support at the HEIs which
  interest them, and start preparing to apply for
  the DSA.

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Recommendations for HEIs

• HEIs should provide information on student
  support directly to SENCOs in schools and
  colleges.
• HEIs should promote the accessibility of their
  courses to disabled students, and the support
  that they might expect to receive. This may help
  to allay anxieties relating to the disclosure of
  a disability.
• Consider the language used in prospectuses and
  course information the term independent
  learner, for example, may be interpreted by
  students as implying a lack of available support.

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Recommendations for Aimhigher

• Aimhigher areas and local authority coordinators
  should ensure that information about Aimhigher
  activities and resources reach SEN staff in
  schools and colleges.
• As part of the appropriate provision (HEFCE
  2008), Aimhigher partnerships should offer events
  when SEN (and Year 12/13) staff can meet with
  Student Support and Learning Support staff in
  HEIs.

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Recommendations for LAs

• Ensure that all Student Awards Section staff have
  accurate and up to date knowledge about the
  Disabled Students Allowances.

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Recommendations for DCSF, DIUS, LSC UCAS

• Simplify, standardise and streamline systems for
  accessing support across all tiers of education.
  
• Consider more sensitive and non-intrusive ways of
  asking students about their support needs.

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And finally

• Thinking about applying to university is a bit
  like thinking about going to talk to a nice girl
  you dont know whether you dare or not.
• Male Y12 student

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References

• May, H., Richardson, D., Harper, H. Harrop, D.
  (2006). Information Collection and Dissemination
  Practices for Learners with Specific Learning
  Differences across the Education Sector.
  http//www.achieveability.org.uk/downloads/Researc
  h_Report.pdf.
• HEFCE (2008). Guidance for Aimhigher
  partnerships. Bristol, HEFCE.
• Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General
  (2002). Widening participation in higher
  education in England. London, The Stationery
  Office