The outcome of the distressing high court case between Natasha Abrahart’s family and University of Bristol raises issues for all universities about disabled student support.
Many will be looking to sign up to the Disabled Student Commitment as a way to effectively structure their disability action plan.
In particular the judge’s rejection of the university’s arguments over competence standard is likely to touch every course team in every institution. Colleagues might be aware that under the Equality Act the maintenance of competence standards is a justifiable reason for not adjusting teaching, learning or assessment to meet the needs of a disabled student. In this case, the judge found that the university had failed in its argument that “the assessment of a student’s ability to explain laboratory work orally, to defend it and to answer questions on it” was “a core competency of a professional scientist” and so not subject to the duty to make reasonable adjustments.
A competence standard is an academic, medical or other standard applied for the purpose of determining whether or not a person has a particular level of competence or ability. They are often shown as outcomes in terms of skills, knowledge and behaviours that are an essential characteristic of a subject or professional expertise. Competence standards must be objectively justifiable, proportionate and relevant to the subject in question. More than that, they must be explicit and clearly published.
