Royal College of Art | Special Educational Needs & Disability Act (SENDA)

The Student Support Officer completed a three year HEFCE funded project (2003 – 2005), to co-ordinate and enhance the RCA’s support for disabled and dyslexic students – maximising staff and student awareness of disability issues.

This Handbook is part of our aim to raise awareness, starting with an introduction to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA). A brief summary of SENDA is set out at the bottom of this page. The SKILL website also has a number of Guides for Staff in Higher Education.

At the RCA, we have a Disability Steering Group and a Dyslexia Steering Group. If you want to find out more about these groups or if you have any comments for either group, please contact us.

The RCA Regulations contain a Disability Statement and a Dyslexia Policy.

If any student has an existing or newly developed disability and you think he or she has no help or needs more help for the disability, please advise them that there is support available:
- The RCA pays most of the cost of a dyslexia assessment with an Assessor who is associated to the College, which is currently £360. Students are asked to make a contribution of £75. Financial help is available for students who have difficulty with the contribution. These charges are increased annually from 1st August.
- Home students may be able to get support from their Local Education Authority (LEA) by applying for the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Please refer the student to us for an application form. The RCA also has a Disability Support Fund to support home students, who are not eligible for DSA or fully supported by the DSA.
- International students cannot usually apply for the DSA, but the Student Support Officer manages an International Students' Disability Support Fund to aid international students with disabilities. There are also Charities and Trusts, which may be able to support international students.
An Overview of SENDA
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) amends the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA).
Some useful definitions:
- Disabled Person – someone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial adverse and long term (i.e. lasting or expected to last for at least 12 months) effect on his/her ability to carry out ‘normal’ day-to-day activities;
- Discrimination – treating someone less favourably than someone else for a reason related to his/her disability without justification, and failing to make reasonable adjustments.
It is unlawful for educational institutions to discriminate in admissions and enrolments and in the provision of ‘student services’.
‘Student services’ are those provided wholly or mainly for students.
- They include teaching, classes, lectures, seminars, practical sessions, curriculum design, examinations and assessments, field trips, arranging study abroad or work placements, outings and trips, research degrees and research facilities, informal/optional study skill sessions.
- They also include many other things, such as lecture theatres, labs, studios, dark rooms, graduation ceremonies, car parking, health, counselling, financial advice and welfare, catering facilities and accommodation-finding services.
Overall responsibility lies with the Governing body or Board of Management, but individuals within the institution are liable if they are found to be aiding unlawful acts or committing the criminal offence of knowingly or recklessly making a false or misleading statement.
Lack of knowledge is not an excuse! Does the institution know, or could it reasonably know, that a person is disabled? The institution must demonstrate that it has taken reasonable steps to find out.
The institution must take reasonable steps to ensure that disabled people or students are not placed at a ‘substantial disadvantage’ in comparison to someone who is not disabled.
Confidentiality: disclosure by a student to any member of staff counts as disclosure to the institution as a whole. However, the Data Protection Act requires that permission be sought to pass on 'personal sensitive' information. Therefore, if a student discloses his/her disability and asks for confidentiality, you must:
- discuss the disadvantages of not disclosing;
- respect the student's decision; and
- discuss with the student whether any reasonable adjustments may be made that will not threaten the request for confidentiality.
The guidance in Disability Support at the RCA should assist you in making reasonable adjustments, without breaching confidentiality.
(The full text of SENDA can be found at here: Click on ‘10010--d’ to get the sections relevant to the RCA.)
If you want to test yourself on SENDA, go to the SKILL website and have a go at their quiz.
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