Disability Service

When a student tells any member of staff that they are disabled, this is a disclosure to the University itself, not just to the individual staff member. This means we must respond not just as an individual, but on behalf of the institution.

In law, the requirement on the University to provide disability-related support arises at the point of disclosure to any member of staff. This is different from (and may occur before) registering with the Disability Service or providing supporting documents (evidence of disability). Students must not be advised that they cannot be supported until they have registered with the Disability Service, or until they have provided evidence of disability.

We also have an obligation to support students who we observe to be disabled, even if the student has not told us that they are disabled. This is called ‘constructive knowledge’ of disability. This means recognising that a student is disabled, even though they have not told us.

If a staff member receives a disability disclosure, or recognises that a student is disabled, the staff member should record what was disclosed or observed. Staff should not agree or promise to keep any disclosure confidential. This is because the University has a legal obligation to provide adjustments to disabled students, even if students have not used formal mechanisms to disclose, such as disclosing on their UCAS application or registering with the Disability Service.

When students disclose that they are disabled, or staff recognise that they are disabled and may benefit from support, staff should signpost them to the Disability Service. Colleagues should also share any support needs with key staff involved in the delivery and administration of the student’s programme of study, and tell the Disability Service what they have learned or observed by emailing support@disability.gla.ac.uk.

Making interim adjustments following initial disclosure

While students who have disclosed that they are disabled should be signposted to the Disability Service, to ensure that they receive all the adjustments and support to which they are entitled, all disclosures should be met with a supportive initial response. Subject areas can implement adjustments straight away if:

• It is possible to identify adjustment(s) that will help.
• The adjustments do not interfere with the assessment of a genuine competence standard.
• The adjustment is deliverable within institutional resource.
• The adjustment is safe to provide – safe both for the disabled student and for others.

If Schools or subject areas have implemented adjustments prior to the student having contact with or registering with the Disability Service, they should make a record of their actions and inform the Disability Service, by emailing support@disability.gla.ac.uk in order that these adjustments can be incorporated into any current or future SSP.

What is a supportive initial response?

Responding helpfully to a disability disclosure might include:

• Advice about coursework extensions and how to get one
• Support to understand and complete any extension request processes
• Support to connect the student with their Adviser of Studies or Advising Team, to receive advice on academic or progress matters
• Support to connect the student with a Student Support Officer (SSO)
• Support to understand and use the Extenuating Circumstances process
• Showing the student the Disability Service web pages and supporting them to complete a Study Support Request
• Telling the student about all the ways they can contact and get advice and support from the Disability Service
• Discussing the general support and wellbeing support available to all students at UofG

Legal definition of disability

In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 sets the definition of a disabled person:

‘A person has a disability if:

(a) They have a physical or mental impairment, and

(b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.’

Many people are disabled. There are nearly 16.8 million disabled people in the UK. This is one in four (25%) of the population. In recent years, approximately 20% of all applicants to the University of Glasgow disclosed that they are disabled. As at September 2025, there are approximately 4,700 students using the Disability Service.

In the definition above:

Substantial = more than minor or trivial

Long-term = has lasted or likely to last (‘may well last’) 12 months or more

Normal day-to-day activities = things people do on a regular daily basis (including attending university)

The definition includes:

• Fluctuating or recurring conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis
• Mental health conditions, including those that come and go, like cycling anxiety and depression
• HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis – all from the point of diagnosis
• Progressive conditions, where the initial effect may not at first be substantial, such as muscular dystrophy or dementia
• Sensory impairments
• Mobility impairments
• Autism and attention deficit conditions (ADHD)
• Learning differences (dyslexia, dyspraxia)
• Severe disfigurement, but not if related to a tattoo or piercing

Someone who may no longer be disabled but who met the definition of disability in the past is protected by the Equality Act as if they were still disabled – for example, a person in remission from a chronic condition is still protected, as is a person experiencing the after-effects of treatment for a disabling condition, such as the after-effects of chemotherapy.

Ultimately, we cannot produce a comprehensive list of all ways of being disabled, other than to say that a disabled person is a person who meets the definition of disability as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

The definition excludes:

• Addictions, such as to alcohol, nicotine or other substances
• Hay fever
• A tendency to set fires, steal, or abuse other people
• Exhibitionism or voyeurism

Note that while a person addicted to alcohol is not, in law, disabled on that basis, it may be that a person addicted to alcohol has a mental health difficulty or difficulties recognised in law as disabling. This means that having an excluded condition does not cancel out being disabled in a way included in the Equality Act.

The importance of context

We cannot always know if an impairment is disabling without considering context. For example, we may ask – is a student who is colourblind disabled? The answer is that we can’t know if being colourblind has a substantial impact on a student’s day-to-day life and study without considering what we are asking them to do.

If the colourblind student is studying a modern language or music, the answer may be that they are not disabled in these study contexts on the basis that not being able to distinguish between certain colours is unlikely to be relevant, since language learning doesn’t rely on colour distinctions and conventional music notation appears in black and white.

However, if the student is studying earth sciences or medicine, it may be that colour distinctions, on maps, charts, graphs, slides, test results, etc. are relevant in context – meaning that being colourblind is disabling for some students but not for all.

Reasonable adjustments are changes to how we typically do things. This includes:

• How we teach
• How we assess
• How we process and administrate

The ‘reasonable’ part asks to consider:

• Will the adjustment be effective in preventing disadvantage?
• Is the adjustment within our institutional resource to provide?
• Is the adjustment safe to provide?

Effective means that we can see that the adjustment is likely to achieve the aim of preventing or reducing disadvantage.

Resource refers to our whole means as an institution, which in our case may be considerable. It's not about if we have means in local budgets, or enough staff on our immediate team.

Safe means for both the disabled student and for others.

In summary, ‘reasonable’ = Will it work? Can we provide it? Is it safe?

We can be called on to adjust almost any aspect of what we do. Under the Equality Act, everything we do is subject to reasonable adjustment, with the exception that we must not make changes to genuine competence standards (though we must consider adjustments to how we assess those standards).

We are perhaps most used to providing reasonable adjustments to teaching and assessment, such as providing teaching materials in alternative formats, or extra time in exams. But to prevent disadvantage, we are also required to adjust our administrative procedures and processes, and to consider adjustments to rules and regulations. For example, if a disabled student were to struggle to use our enrolment processes, we should provide administrative support such that they are not disadvantaged. If we have rules or regulations concerning enrolment, such that students cannot enrol before a certain date, or must have enrolled by a certain date to get their course choices, these rules or regulations should be adjusted such that disabled students are not disadvantaged. This sometimes means we may treat disabled students differently, or more favourably, than students who have not disclosed that they are disabled. This is allowed under the terms of the Equality Act. It is permissible to treat disabled students more favourably to prevent disadvantage.

It is not possible to provide a comprehensive list of all possible reasonable adjustments. This is because the obligation on us is dynamic in that we are asked to respond to individual students’ needs in relation the demands of their programme of study. This is different from choosing from an approved list of available adjustments or applying the same adjustments to all students with the same impairment or diagnosis.

That said – there are several adjustments that are commonly implemented, and which address a wide range of disadvantage. University staff can consider these commonly used adjustments if they are providing adjustments in advance of a student registering with the Disability Service.

Important: these are neither the only adjustments available, nor the only reasons why adjustments may be provided.

Colleagues can contact the Disability Service using support@disability.gla.ac.uk for further advice about adjustments.

Disability Coordinator Role Description

Disability Coordinators (DISCOs) have access to student disability-related information on MyCampus and communicate with colleagues in their School or subject area to ensure that reasonable adjustments specified for disabled students are implemented.

Please complete this form to request access for a new Disability Coordinator, or to make a change to the Disability Coordinator(s) within for your School or subject area.

Staff Handbook for supporting disabled students