Disability Equality Scheme

Annual Report-

November 2007

Appendix

Appendix 1

Overview of Progress – Student statistics in 2007

Statistics and key points concerning disabled student numbers (data from University SITS System):

Please note that detailed updates on Brunel University’s Action Plan are to be found at Appendix 4 to the annual report. These updates have been made by over 30 managers at the University concerning areas of activity in which they have a responsibility. Please note that most of the actions are ongoing.

In addition to the updated Action Plan the following are some key statistics and other information on progress during 2007:

A. Overall student population:

Disability Breakdown in Percentages

2003 / 2004 / 2004 /2005 / 2005 / 2006 / 2006/2007
Disabled / 4.42% / 4.51% / 4.94% / 5.36%
Non Disabled / 95.22% / 94.93% / 94.58% / 94.64%
Not Known / 0.36% / 0.57% / 0.48% / -

Analysis of the above student population percentages indicates continued growth in the number of known disabled students attending Brunel. This may be a result of a combination of the high level of publicity and marketing which aims to attract disabled applicants to the University and students’ increased willingness to disclose because of the full range of support services available to them at Brunel. For full student population figures see Appendix 5.

B. Number of students in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowances (data reported to the Higher Education Statistics Agency):

2003/4 / 2004/5 / 2005/6 / 2006/7
The student has a disability and is in receipt of Disabled Student Allowance. / 267 / 303 / 380 / 437
The student has a disability and is not in receipt of Disabled Student Allowance. / 330 / 273 / 426 / 435
The student has a disability but information about Disabled Student Allowance is not known/not sought. / 101 / 160 / 10 / 8
The student has no known disability. / 15319 / 15600 / 15699 / 15538
Grand Total / 16017 / 16336 / 16515 / 16418

The above figures illustrate continued growth in the number of students receiving the important DSA funding. This is a result of the DDS campaigning and encouraging students to apply for the DSA. The funding provides equipment, support workers and other forms of assistant which are crucial to support disabled students throughout their studies.

C. Undergraduate Awards:

2004/5 / 2005/6 / 2006/7
Non disabled / 2314 / 2041 / 2321
Disabled / 119 / 112 / 150
Not known / 9 / 8 / 9
Total number of awards / 2442 / 2161 / 2480

Statistics from the last three years show that when expressed as a percentage of the total number of Undergraduate awards given to students, the percentage of Undergraduate awards given to disabled students has risen each year. 150 Undergraduate awards were given to disabled students in 2006/7. Full data set are available at Appendix 5.

D. First and Upper Second Class Awards

Disabled Students / Non Disabled students / Unknown
Number of First and Upper Second awards / 101 / 1472 / 5
Total awards / 150 / 2321 / 9
% / 67% / 63%

The table above illustrates this data. Analysis of this awards data for 2006/7 shows that of the 150 awards granted to disabled students, 67% of these awards were First or Upper Second class awards. This compares to 63% of First and Upper Second class degrees that were awarded to non disabled students. This indicates that disabled students are receiving levels of support which enable them to achieve their academic potential and receive a good number of First or Upper Second class awards.

E. Other details from analysis of the Awards Data:

The awards data also shows that there has been a significant increase in the number of students with specific learning difficulties who have been granted Undergraduate awards, an increase from 58 in 2005/6 to 81 in 2006/7. The number of awards given to students who have disclosed mental health difficulties doubled to 12 in 2006/7 from 6 in 2005/6. Another interesting statistic is that 4 out of 5 students who are wheelchair users/have mobility impairments gained an Upper second class degree in 2006/7.

F. Undergraduate progression:

Non Disabled students / Disabled students / Unknown
Course completed or progressed normally / 92.3%
(n=8961) / 91.4%
(n=613) / 80%
(n=100)
Withdrawn / 7.7%
(n=745) / 8.6%
(n=58) / 20%
(n=25)

The table above summarises this information. The full data set can be found at Appendix 5. Analysis of this Undergraduate progression data shows that for academic year 2006/7, 91.4% of disabled students progressed normally through their courses, compared to 92.3% of non disabled students. The difference between these figures is marginal (0.9%) suggesting that disabled students are no more likely to withdraw from their courses than non disabled students, which again reflects positively on the level and quality of support provided.

Appendix 2

Student Feedback and Focus Groups

In 2007 the Union of Brunel Student hosted two meetings of the disabled students’ focus group and there is a strong commitment from the Union of Brunel Students, Disability and Dyslexia Service and Widening Participation managers to hold these more frequently in 2008. In addition to the focus groups students were contacted for their views and input to service quality monitoring and contribution to the DES by global e-mails and regular e-news letters. A survey was also sent via the University website (U-link) to all disabled students as follows:

Student survey results:

A total of 51 disabled students completed the survey; some results are shown below:

  1. Have services and facilities for disabled students improved over the last 12 months?

  1. Are you aware the University has a Disability and Dyslexia Service?

3. Are you aware that the University has a Disability Equality Scheme

and Action Plan?

Students were sent information about the DES via e-mails and other publicity concerning the focus groups and just over half of the 51 respondents have remembered this when completing the questionnaire. However, the University will endeavour to increase the numbers involved in 2008 via frequent focus group meetings and other publicity.

4. Students were asked to rate how satisfied they were with services

and facilities within the University.

The table below shows the breakdown of the results:

Satisfied / Dissatisfied / Unsure / Not Used / Not Answered
Support from Disability and Dyslexia Service Adviser / 41 / 1 / 1 / 7 / 1
West London Assessment Centre / 18 / 0 / 4 / 27 / 2
Assistive Technology Centre / 18 / 1 / 1 / 30 / 1
Support Worker Service / 17 / 1 / 2 / 28 / 2
Library / 37 / 1 / 6 / 6 / 1
Placement and Careers / 7 / 1 / 4 / 38 / 1
Counselling Service / 5 / 0 / 1 / 44 / 1
Student Union / 24 / 2 / 5 / 19 / 1
Personal Tutor / 25 / 3 / 7 / 14 / 2
Sports Facilities / 13 / 1 / 2 / 34 / 1
Medical Centre / 10 / 1 / 5 / 34 / 1
Chaplaincy / 3 / 0 / 4 / 41 / 3
Equal & Diversity / 11 / 0 / 2 / 36 / 2

3.Students were also asked to give some suggestions and share ideas

for how they could be more involved in planning services and the

future DES.

These comments have been noted and feedback will be given to the students at future focus group meetings. Some suggestions and ideas were:

‘It would be very beneficial if a wheelchair user could take senior members of planning services around the campus to highlight problems, perhaps even getting them to use a wheelchair to show them the difficulties first hand’.

If there isn't one, there should be a representative for disabled people, who would have developed contacts with the team in the student union and staff, to ensure views are getting across.

‘Walk the talk! its all written down, but at times, awareness by staff is low or ignored by those who can make a difference’

Make the shops on campus accessible to disabled students as they promised they would be.

More flexibility so that students suffering from a disability/MH condition could take a full time course on a part time basis without having to have endless meetings and getting the DRC involved.

BSL courses available at University.

Timetabling organised so that students in wheelchairs who need to use Dictaphones can actually put those on the lecturers table which is not possible in some of the lecture rooms in the lecture centre.

Appendix 3

Disabled Staff Statistics

Information from Equality and Diversity Annual Report 2007 (Employment)

Disability Recruitment and Retention

Staff Composition

Table 1 – (Figures as of 1st October 2006 compared to 2007 figures)

Disabled Staff Composition
Composition / Percentage 06 / Percentage 07
Ethnic minority population / 18.5% / 22.45%
Declared Disabled population / 1.1% / 1.27%
Male / 49.3% / 48.35%
Female population / 50.7% / 51.65%
Age
16 - 24 / 5.6% / 7.25%
25 -49 / 61.6% / 61.04%
50 – 64 / 30.1% / 27.80%
65+ / 2.7% / 3.76%

Disability Recruitment and Retention

Table 2 – (Figures for period 08/05 – 08/06 based on Total Staff of 3251

compared to figures for period 08/06 – 08/07 based on total staff of 3216)

Composition / Percentage 06 / Percentage 07
Staff Composition (including hourly paid staff) / 1.1% / 1.1%
Academic Staff Composition / 1.1% / 1.03%
Academic Related Staff Composition / 0.9% / 1.31%
Non-Academic Staff Composition / 1.2% / 1.43%
Recruitment Applications / 1.1% / 1.60%
Appointments / 0.5% / 1.30%
Contract Type (all contracts) / 0.7% / 1.28%
Leavers / 1.0% / 1.21%

Disability and Length of Service

Table 3 – (Figures for period 08/05 – 08/06 based on Total Staff of 3251 compared to figures for period 08/06 – 08/07 based on total staff of 3216)

Length of Service / Percentage 06 / Percentage 07
Under 1 year / 0.2% / 0.22%
1-5 years / 0.5% / 0.59%
6-10 years / 0.1% / 0.16%
Over 10 years / 0.3% / 0.31%

With the introduction of the Disability Equality Scheme and the promotion of Disability Equality it is anticipated that our declared disabled staff population, which is relatively low, will increase year on year. As illustrated in the tables above, there has been some growth in numbers during the last year and this is an area for action which Human Resources and Managers will prioritise in 2008.

1

Appendix 4 Updated Action Plan

Action Plan for Disability Equality Scheme Brunel University - November 2006 and Annual Report Update-December, 2007

Area of Action

/

Action Planned

/

Responsibility

/

By When

/

Achievement Criteria

/

Update and Plans for 2008

Involving Disabled People

/ Students:
  • Regular meetings of Focus Groups
  • Regular questionnaires & satisfaction surveys
  • Awareness-raising events & publicity materials produced
/
  • DDS Manager P&P, VP UBS, E&D Manager
  • DDS Manager P&P, E&D Manager & Managers of Services
  • DDS Manager P&P, E&D Manager, WP Officer, VP BS
/
  • Ongoing
  • Ongoing
  • Ongoing
/
  • Focus Groups meeting monthly & feedback on involvement given
  • Questionnaires & surveys regularly issued & feedback given
  • Events held throughout year & publicity circulated
  • All items reported on for DES Review
/
  • 2 focus groups held during 2006/7 for students. Also a number of induction events for students held. Plans for minimum of one focus group per term during 2007/8.
  • Disabled Student Satisfaction Survey carried out. Support Group feedback questionnaires completed. All users of West London Assessment Centre also sent questionnaires.
  • New fliers/posters produced, marketing and publicity plan produced for DDS
  • DES issues are monitored at regular School Staff Student Liaison Committee meetings. These are minuted and feedback given on all issues either immediately following action or at the next meeting
  • Events include induction event where talks given by disabled student ambassadors, induction talks; Freshers’ Fayre – employed disabled student to work on DDS/ATC/WLAC stall; Involvement in One World Week – including various events planned.

Staff:
  • Regular meetings of Focus Groups
  • Regular questionnaires & satisfaction surveys
  • Awareness-raising events & publicity materials produced
/
  • HR Managers
  • HR Managers
  • HR Managers
/
  • Ongoing
  • Ongoing
  • Ongoing
/
  • Focus Groups meeting monthly & feedback on involvement given
  • Questionnaires & surveys regularly issued & feedback given
  • Events held throughout year & publicity circulated
/
  • One focus group session is run every term, it is not feasible to have them occur once a month. Focus group feedback is published as part of the EO/HR Annual report. A new facilitator has been recruited (hence the delay), the first session is 5/12/07.
  • Disability questionnaire/satisfaction survey will be sent out Dec07/Jan 08. Results will be analysed to establish if there are any areas in which we can improve.
  • As part of One World Week Fayre HR will incorporate Disability Awareness within their Harassment and Bullying stall. Awareness raising publicity has been included in Brunel News on 2 occasions this year (see below links); one to promote the DES, the other to cover University’s hosting of a national press conference for a top Paralympic sprinter bidding to compete against non disabled athletes’


Community Users:
  • Regular meetings with disabled people in range of settings
/
  • DDS Manager P&P, WP Officer, E&D Manager + organisations such as DASH, LB Hillingdon
/
  • Ongoing
/
  • Meetings convened & reported on for DES Review
/
  • University Staff have met with disabled people from the community in a number of settings. The main focus of these has been with DASH, the local association of disabled people (DDS Manager attends monthly trustees meetings) and their meetings with disabled people. Information about Brunel’s DES has been constantly on the DASH website inviting involvement and comment. More involvement of disabled people from the community will be a priority for 2008. Ongoing

Data Collection & Analysis

/
  • Audit of relevant data & cleansing re both staff & student records
  • Data analysed & targets for recruitment, retention & progression set
/
  • Registry Manager, School Manager secondee (Data Integrity Project)
  • Equality & Diversity Action Group
/
  • By Summer 2007
  • Annually
/
  • Clear data recorded, monitored & reported on to HESA, Managers, etc.
  • Data analysed and included in Annual Report on DES & next Action Plan
/
  • Full sets of student data have been reported to HESA and the details are within this annual report in Appendices 1 and 5. Analysis shows that the number of disclosed disabled students increased over the year, numbers in receipt of disabled students allowances increased, a higher percentage of disabled students achieved first or upper second class degrees than non disabled students and retention rates were almost identical. These facts illustrate that disabled students are supported to achieve their academic potential and numbers are rising in all categories of recording.
  • As above

Disclosure, Retention & Progression

/
  • Campaign to encourage increased numbers of staff & students to disclose disability by raising awareness of the positives & identifying barriers via staff development sessions, briefings & publicity
/
  • WP Officer, Disability & Dyslexia Service Managers, HR, E & D Manager, Registry & Marketing
/
  • Ongoing
/
  • Targets met and reported on in DES Annual Report
/
  • Benefits of disclosure now part of all Personal Statement talks held in schools and will remain so.
  • Series of staff development sessions held throughout 2006/7. Further series planned for 2007/8.
  • New publicity materials developed including posters/fliers, promotional goods purchased (stress balls/tins of mints with logo to raise awareness)
  • HE awareness session for prospective students from local schools/colleges 3 October 2007 and Spring 2008.
  • Established new mentoring programme for final year students with disabilities.
  • Held induction event for Freshers with disabilities on 21st September 2007. This now forms part of the annual Freshers’ calendar.
  • Continue to support the development of Deaf awareness workshops with external trainer.
  • Data cleansing completed 2007, this has decreased our unknown disability figures for staff from 538 to 386. Plan to further publicise disability awareness and encourage declaration of disability through staff mail outs. Results will be seen when data is analysed for the Annual EO/HR report figures after July 08
  • The EO monitoring section of recruitment application forms have been amended to include and clarify definitions of disability to encourage openness, the Annual EO/HR Report 2007 counted 1027 ‘Unknown Disability’ applications out of 6698 total applications. Next year’s report will show if the change in format has increased openness

Positive relationships

/
  • To promote positive images of disabled people
  • As part of the Equality and Diversity training programme to deliver student awareness training.
  • To develop a harassment and discrimination reporting procedure for disabled people.
/
  • Marketing, UBS, E and D Manager (students), DDS Manager P&P, Diversity Development Officer (staff).
  • Marketing, UBS, E and D Manager (students), DDS Manager P&P.
  • UBS, E and D Manager (students), DDS Manager P&P, Diversity Development Officer (staff).
/
  • Start Feb
2007
  • Start Feb
2007
  • Ongoing
/
  • Awareness seen to have been raised
  • Positive attitudes towards disabled students in place and confirmed via feedback from training and disabled people
  • Procedure and awareness of it in place and incidence of harassment relating to discrimination reduced.
/
  • Disabled students have worked as ambassadors at events such as Induction and also in peer mentoring scheme. Positive images used in publicity materials, University prospectus, Podcasts etc. Handbooks and other materials available at all Open Day events.
  • The University carries the ‘Two Tick Symbol’ which is carried on our vacancies and application forms. We place generic recruitment adverts in disability publications (Able, Disability Review). Please see the ‘Involving Disabled People’ section above for further publicity.
  • Excellent feedback from staff development sessions and induction events has been collected
  • Continuing to support the delivery of deaf awareness workshops for students. Continue WP funding for the Disability Forum hosted by UBS
  • All staff have access to the University’s Anti Harassment Advisors as well as access to the University’s Harassment and Bullying Code of Practice and Policy documents

Community Users /
  • To Increase the number of people aware of services available
  • To carry out user satisfaction surveys in all services areas
/
  • Service Managers, Marketing/
Publicity
  • Service Managers, Marketing/
Publicity /
  • October
2007
  • Ongoing
/
  • More & better targeted publicity received by community
  • Surveys reported on by managers for the DES Review & Action Plan & feedback to users given
/
  • Services included in school visits and promoted on an individual basis at Open Days. Discuss further promotional plans in 2008 with DDS Policy/Planning Manager.
  • Marketing assistance provided to Ovingdean School for profoundly deaf students in Brighton
  • Some service areas have added questions for disabled members of the public to comment and this will be an area of action for other services during 2008.