Reasonable Adjustments Project summary
Part 4 of the DDA makes it unlawful for schools to discriminate against disabled pupils for a reason relating to their disability without justification. They must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled pupils are not put at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to those who are not disabled.
The Department and the Disability Rights Commission together commissioned Disability Equality in Education and the Council for Disabled Children to develop a resource bank of practical ideas, strategies and training materials to help schools make Reasonable Adjustments for disabled pupils.
Schools were asked to nominate themselves for the project by providing brief details of the good practice they are engaged in making reasonable adjustments for their disabled and prospective disabled pupils. Additionally, LEAs were asked to nominate schools in their area regarded as being experienced in making reasonable adjustments.
From the 400 schools nominated, the project team selected 50 schools in which to film; pupils, parents and school staff talking about how they identified the reasonable adjustments needed, the process followed in planning and implementing them and the outcome. Filming included nursery, primary and secondary schools as well as special schools engaged in outreach work with their local mainstream schools. The resource will illustrate the principles and processes followed to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with a wide range of needs across all aspects of school life and provide a practical resource for schools.
Key objectives for the project (RAP)
- to promote a better understanding of the DDA discrimination duties by identifying good practice
- to support the development of policies and processes to enable reasonable adjustments to be made effectively, meeting the requirements of the Discrimination Duties
- to disseminate examples of good practice
What counts as a 'Reasonable Adjustment'?
What counts as a reasonable adjustment will vary across different situations. A case should be judged by its own individual merits. The DRC Code of Practice gives examples of Reasonable Adjustments, namely:
- A school reviews its policies on the administration of medicines and, with assurances that staff are indemnified by the education authority's insurance policy, subsequently allows staff to volunteer to administer medicines
- A school reviews its policy on bullying to ensure that it addresses bullying linked to disability.
More examples of reasonable adjustments from the Disability Rights Commission's Code of Practice for Schools can be found at: Examples of reasonable adjustments on the website.
Schools should consider steps that they could take and then decide if it is reasonable for them to take them. Factors of reasonableness include cost, practicability, health and safety, the maintenance of academic standards, and the impact on other pupils.
RAP has found that there are some key principles and requirements that schools should have regard to when making reasonable adjustments.
[N.B. Schools are not required to provide auxiliary aids and services to meet the DDA discrimination duties since these will be made through the SEN framework; changes in the physical features of the school will be achieved over time through the implementation of the DDA planning duties.]
When?
Materials from the project will be available for dissemination in Spring 2006
