Home > Education > Undergraduate education > Undergraduate policy > Gateways guidance > The legal background

Gateways to the Professions

4. The legal background

4.1 Disability discrimination

In providing education, it is unlawful to discriminate against disabled people without justification, or to treat a disabled person less favourably than others because of their disability. The law also requires medical schools to avoid putting disabled people at a substantial disadvantage by making reasonable adjustments. They must anticipate the adjustments that disabled people as a group will need when using any university or medical school services, from initial publicity and recruitment, through learning and assessment, to the awards ceremony.

Education providers have duties under Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) as amended by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) and the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (SENDO). Education providers will also need to consider Part 1 of the DDA (definitions), Part 2 (employment), Part 3 (goods and services) and Part 5A (the Disability Equality Duty).

Universities, medical schools, postgraduate deaneries and employers have four fundamental duties in relation to disabled people.

1. Disability discrimination: The duty to avoid the following types of unlawful discrimination:

• direct discrimination
• disability-related discrimination
• the failure to make reasonable adjustments
• victimisation
• harassment.

Direct discrimination is discrimination against someone because they are a disabled person. Disability-related discrimination is discrimination that affects a disabled person but is not directly  related to their disability.

The Disability Equality Duty underpins the response to these types of unlawful discrimination.

2. The anticipatory duty: The duty to ensure that, as far as possible, the need for reasonable adjustments for disabled people in general has been anticipated in advance. This includes checking policies, practices, facilities and procedures as well as providing auxiliary aids and services, such as hearing loops, ramps and alternative print formats.
   
   
3. Reasonable adjustments³: The duty to make reasonable adjustments to policies, practices, facilities and procedures to meet the individual requirements of disabled people. Technology to assist disabled people (known as ‘assistive technology’) is developing rapidly, and the university disability officer should have full information on what is available.
   
   
4. The Disability Equality Duty: The duty to promote equality and to eliminate discrimination.

Overall responsibility for complying with disability discrimination legislation within the higher education sector lies with the governing body of the university. Medical schools throughout the United Kingdom have duties and responsibilities under the DDA as part of the university, unless the medical school is legally separate from the university. In this instance, medical schools providing services to the public are likely to be covered by Part 3 of the DDA and must alert staff to their legal responsibilities.

Medical trainees at postgraduate level are protected in two ways: as trainees of a postgraduate deanery and as employees of a trust or health board. At this stage in their training, not only do disabled trainees have rights to fair treatment in education, they also have rights under Part 2 of the DDA - the employment provisions.

Because universities and medical schools provide the education and training necessary for a student to register as a doctor with the GMC, they must ensure that the examinations and tests for which they are responsible are free from disability discrimination. Medical schools therefore must ensure that all their policies, procedures and practices are equitable.

In the European Union, progress towards eliminating discrimination is on the basis of the Framework Directive. Once a disabled person is registered as a doctor in one Member State, they have the right to seek employment in another Member State.

European and international students have the same rights under the Act as home students. Medical schools need to ensure that they have in place the necessary systems to identify the needs of disabled students coming from outside the United Kingdom. However, international students are not eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances so institutions must fund any reasonable adjustments themselves.