Friday 13 February 2015

University practice changing ahead of DSA cuts

University of Salford have released detailsabout how and why they are changing their approach to accessible course delivery. ALL students will now have access to PowerPoint slides before lectures, fair warning of timetable changes and preparation time for class discussion. No more Individual Support Plans.

Every university is being challenged in the name of DSA modernisation which aims to rebalance the responsibilities and the costs of inclusive and accessible higher education.


In the frequently asked questions, the University states that DSA is being removed for students with specific learning difficulties; that is not the case (at least not if we assume the information in the public domain is correct). The Equality Analysis states that those with mild dyslexia are deemed to be outside the scope of DSA funded support, those with moderate to severe levels of specific learning difficulty will be able to claim DSA. Furthermore, in a clause added in December 14 the “impact of the learning environment” has been added as a factor in “complexity’ thus providing an argument for ‘mild’ dyslexia being ‘moderate to severe’ in a complex learning environment.