Written evidence from the Open University (DEG0008)

1. The Open University (OU) welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the Work and Pensions Committee Inquiry on the Disability Employment Gap. Our submission focuses on the following questions posed by the Committee:

-          What is the economic impact of low employment and high economic inactivity rates for disabled people? Are some disabled people (for example, young disabled people or people with different health conditions) more at risk of unemployment or economic activity than others?

-          What would you hope to see in the Government’s National Strategy for Disabled People?

Progress So Far and Impact 

What is the economic impact of low employment and high economic inactivity rates for disabled people? Are some disabled people (for example, young disabled people or people with different health conditions) more at risk of unemployment or economic activity than others?

2. There are major variations between different groups of disabled people and whether they are at risk of unemployment. One of the greatest determinants remains their level of education. The employment gap for people with disabilities varies widely depending on the highest qualification, from 19% for those without any qualifications to 74% for those with a degree or equivalent qualification.[1] This demonstrates the added value that Higher Education (HE) – and learning in general – provides for disabled people.

Enforcement and Next Steps

What would you hope to see in the Government’s National Strategy for Disabled People?

3. The OU would like to see a consideration of the importance of education in improving the lives of disabled people and, as part of that, a recognition of the importance of part-time distance learning in helping disabled people into work.

4. For many disabled students, part-time HE – particularly supported distance learning- is often the only way they can realise their educational ambitions. Part time study allows them to learn when convenient (allowing them to balance other commitments such as hospital appointments and/or changes in their disability), and without committing to study for long periods of time. This helps explains why the OU is the university of choice for so many disabled students.

5. The OU has over 27,000 students – more than the total number of students at many universities – accounting for more than 8% of all UK students with a disability. This reflects the value that many disabled students place on access to flexible online learning.

Recommendation: The National Strategy for Disabled People should highlight the benefits of higher education for disabled people looking for employment, and should include measures to encourage greater enrolment.

Reducing Barriers to Flexible Part-time learning

6. Reducing barriers to flexible part-time HE should also form a key part of the Government’s National Strategy for Disabled People. In particular, reform is needed to address excessive barriers within the student support system that deter and hamper students with a severe disability from accessing maintenance loans in England.

7. Section 157M of the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 only allows distance learning students to access part-time maintenance loans if they are “unable to attend a campus-based university for a reason which relates to their disability”, and can demonstrate that[2]:

• They physically cannot attend a campus-based university as a direct result of their disability or medical condition and due to the campus-based university being unable to accommodate the student’s additional requirements.
• They have sought out and researched campus-based universities to review the support available and concluded that these universities cannot adequately accommodate their disability.

8. Therefore the onus is currently on the student to prove that they are physically unable to attend a campus university because of their disability which cannot be accommodated by the university in question, and to provide evidence that they have researched and discussed this with the campus based provider.  As pointed out in the recent HE Commission report - Arriving at Thriving: Learning from disabled students to ensure access for all[3] - it is nearly impossible for a student to get such a claim from a campus university in writing given the possible reputational consequences of such an admission. 

9. While checks are needed to ensure taxpayers money is properly spent, we are concerned this current approach adds to the heavy bureaucratic burdens that disabled students face (which is one of the overall key findings of the HE Commission report), and that it is preventing those in need from accessing the support offered to them by the government. 

10. Many disabled learners also struggle to understand the process for applying for Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) – the main source of support for disabled students - and complain about the application process and its timescales. Anxiety and stress are caused by delays to the process when further evidence and assessments are considered. At the OU we receive complaints from multiple students about having to reapply for DSA annually; making it harder to buy and borrow equipment. 

11. It does not help that the Government narrowed the eligibility for DSA, meaning universities have had to step in and provide additional support and resources to disabled learners who were previously supported by the Government.  This places additional pressures on HEIs accessibility budgets.

Recommendations:

Reform is needed to address excessive barriers within the student support system that deter and hamper students with a severe disability from accessing maintenance loans.  More weight needs to be given to disabled students’ views that there is no face-to-face provision suitable for their needs, rather than requiring an onerous process to prove this beyond doubt. 

Review the DSA application process to: streamline the process more broadly; make the form more accessible and assess the frequency with which students should reapply.  

About the Open University

12. The OU is the UK’s largest university, with over 170,000 students. Since the University was established in 1969, over two million people have achieved their learning goals by studying with us.
13. The University operates across all four nations of the United Kingdom. Yet OU learning is also very local, making higher education possible for those living (and working) in areas where there is no local university (higher education cold spots).
14. We are uniquely placed to enable people to manage their development through learning and skills as it is a flexible distance higher education provider, with expertise in supporting a wide range of students with varying disabilities.
15. Our open admission policy means that people do not need prior qualifications to study with us. In 2017/18, for example, 76% of new entrants had two A levels (or equivalent) or fewer qualifications.
16. The OU has over 50 years’ experience of delivering HE by distance learning to students with a range of physical and mental disabilities. We have 27,237students who have declared at least one disability. As such, we have far more students with a disability than any other university in the UK, with around one in eleven disabled HE students in the UK studying at the OU. Over the last seven years the number of disabled students at the OU has more than trebled.
17. Mental health is the largest category of disability among OU students, accounting for 30% of all our students with disabilities. Special learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, account for 23% of OU disabled students, and fatigue and pain account for 7%.[4]

December 2020