Special Educational Needs: Visual Impairment

(asked on 26th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support visually impaired students to (a) study and (b) live independently in higher education.


Answered by
Chris Skidmore Portrait
Chris Skidmore
This question was answered on 5th March 2019

Higher Education providers have legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support disabled students, including those with visual impairments, for example, by making reasonable adjustments. The responsibility to support students should include communicating what support and services are available. Alongside this, eligible students can receive support through Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), which can help with the costs of additional learning-related equipment, personal support and travel disabled students may incur. Visually impaired students eligible for DSAs receive specialist professional support, for example in making the best use of specialist equipment and in modifying learning materials into accessible formats.

I recently met organisations who represent visually impaired students, and agreed that the department will work with them to ensure the support available through DSAs continues to enable visually impaired students to participate fully in higher education.

Reticulating Splines