You have the right not to be discriminated against  – directly or indirectly

Direct discrimination and harassment – treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic.

Indirect discrimination is also, legally, discrimination! Indirect discrimination is where a “provision, criterion or practice” puts a disabled person at a “particular disadvantage”. Failure to comply with the legal duty to make adjustments also counts as discrimination.

You have the right to (anticipatory!) ‘reasonable adjustments’

If a disabled person is put at a “substantial disadvantage” by an inaccessible provision, criterion, practice or physical feature, the Equality Act 2010 requires that reasonable adjustments be put in place to eliminate any disadvantage. This is an anticipatory duty. It requires service providers to anticipate the needs of potential service users (this includes in education!), and take proactive steps to ensure equal access to full participation.

Reasonable adjustments can take the form of changes to your living or learning environment or to particular provisions, criteria or practices. For example automatic doors at entrance to buildings you require access to, large print material, exam adjustments.

Reasonable refers to whether it can be considered appropriate for an organisation or institution to implement a change in order to support a disabled student. This can vary depending on the size and income of the institution in question however most adjustments will be deemed reasonable as they exist to ensure you have equal access to your education and other services.

You have the right to fair and adjusted assessment

Assessment should be about measuring your competence in your subject – not your ability to demonstrate skills irrelevant to what you’re being assessed on. As long as competence standards aren’t compromised, you have the right to adjusted assessment if you need it. If e.g. a three-hour written exam puts you at a substantial disadvantage as a disabled student, you have the right to exam adjustments (extra time, rest breaks, use of a PC…) and/or an alternative mode of assessment.

You have the right to equal access to education

There are lots of ways in which schools and universities are set up to exclude or disadvantage disabled students. You have the right to access your education on an equal footing with everyone else; it’s a legal requirement for them to enable this as far as it can. Whether it’s deadline flexibility, handing work in digitally, prioritised reading lists, material in advance, alternative text formats, accessible rooms – you have the right to the adjustments you need to study and achieve without being disadvantaged.

You have the right not to foot the bill for your adjustments

If the university or school is making a ‘reasonable adjustment’ for you (e.g. providing you with accessible accommodation, academic adjustments etc), and this costs money to do, it’s their responsibility to pay – not yours! The Equality Act 2010 says service providers are not entitled to require a disabled person to pay “to any extent” costs arising from that provider complying with the legal duty to make adjustments.