The reasonable adjustments duty for higher education in England and Wales

In the UK in 2001, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act extended Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to cover Higher Education. Since then, the number of students in higher education who have declared a disability has grown. This chapter will discuss the problematic concept of what is considered 'reasonable' when it comes to making adjustments to meet the needs of students with disabilities, and examine how this duty has affected teaching and learning methods and the experiences of students to date. Finally, the chapter will consider how the soon to be implemented Disability Equality Duty will impact on teaching and learning in higher education from December 2006.