At school/college you might have had additional support through an EHCP or SEND Support that school/college offered (which might have been written into a My Support Plan or I-APDR).
Schools and colleges provide support for children and young people with special needs and disabilities and follow advice given to them in the SEND Code Of Practice (opens link in new window) Schools and colleges have to follow this advice by law.
If you go to University, they do not have to follow what it says in the SEND Code of Practice, instead they have to follow the Equality Act 2010 - this page about what this means for higher education (opens link in new window) gives more information about this. This means that Universities must provide “reasonable adjustments” to teaching and learning for any student who has a disability i.e. any long term condition which has a significant impact on their day to day life.
However, section 8.43 of the SEND Code of Practice explains what Local Authorities must do when you transfer to university.
It’s important to note that if you have an EHCP, it does not necessarily mean that you have a disability as described by the Equality Act.
Go Higher West Yorkshire (opens link in new window) have produced a guide called the Higher Education Transition Pack which details support options for when young people with SEND move onto Higher Education. You can download this pack by clicking on the image below or using the link.
Go Higher West Yorkshire - Higher Education Transition Pack (Opens PDF in new window)
Funding for support - Disabled Students Allowance (DSA)
If you are disabled and at University you are entitled to support and this is funded by the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA). Information about applying for this can be found on the gov.uk website about DSA's (opens link in new window). You apply for DSA online and the whole process takes around 14 weeks to get support in place.
If you have an EHCP, it is important to ask the Local Authority to pass your EHCP onto the university you are going to.
Huddersfield University details the support it can offer on their website (opens link in new window) however the support that is available for different Universities may well be different.
It is a good idea to contact the university you are thinking of applying to and ask them about what support they can offer you.
UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Services) has some information about support at University on their website (opens link in new window)
If a young person has an EHCP and is moving on from school or college to university, their Education Health and Care Plan will cease as there is different funding in universities, including Disabled Student Allowances. The young person’s school or college should work with the Local Authority and the university to make sure that the young person can make a smooth transition to the university and that they know how to claim funding and have their needs met.
If you receive support from Health or Social Care, then if you go to university and move away from home then the Local Authority will plan how it will deliver this support. It is important to discuss this with those professionals that support you before you move.
