Reasonable Adjustments

The university has a duty under the Equalities Act (2010) to provide Reasonable adjustments.

"A reasonable adjustment is a reasonable variation or alteration made to university processes so that a disabled student can access without disadvantage the higher educational opportunities of the institution without compromising the expected academic or professional standards." (UoB Code of Practice on reasonable adjustments for students).

Anyone can ask for adjustments if they need them. But to have legal rights to reasonable adjustments, you will need to be defined as ‘disabled’ under the Equality Act 2010. 

"The Equality Act says a disability is a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day- to-day activities."

Useful Websites

The following websites offer more information and resources on Reasonable Adjustments

Disability Rights UK: Adjustments for disabled students

Advance HE: Managing Reasonable Adjustments in Higher Education

SCOPE: Reasonable Adjustments in college and university education

It can be helpful to look at the types of reasonable adjustments you are being asked to implement. If you are seeing the same requests regularly, consider how you could incorporate them into your universal design for learning instead. 

Academic Articles: Reasonable Adjustments and Higher Education

  • Little, C., Pearson, A. and Gimblett, K., (2023). Reasonable adjustment, unfair advantage or optional extra? Teaching staff attitudes towards reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 11(2), pp.135-146.

  • Campbell, S., (2023). Supporting Disabled Students in Higher Education: The Reasonable Adjustments Handbook. Taylor & Francis.

  • Spier, J. and Natalier, K., (2021). Reasonable adjustments? Disabled research higher degree students’ strategies for managing their candidature in an Australian university. Disability & Society, pp.1-22.

  • Bunbury, S., (2020). Disability in higher education–do reasonable adjustments contribute to an inclusive curriculum?. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(9), pp.964-979.

  • Lister, K., Coughlan, T. and Owen, N., (2020). Learning needs, barriers, differences and study requirements: How students identify as' disabled'in higher education. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 22(1), pp.95-111.
  • Collins, A., Azmat, F. and Rentschler, R., (2019). ‘Bringing everyone on the same journey’: revisiting inclusion in higher education. Studies in higher education, 44(8), pp.1475-1487.

For more information on reasonable adjustments please contact Disability Services

Current staff and students can also refer to the intranet pages Disability, Long term health conditions and specific learning disabilities