The Office for Students (OfS) has today announced the panel members who will be joining its new Disability in Higher Education Advisory Panel.
The panel has been established to provide expert advice on improving the experience of disabled students in higher education and will consider how universities and colleges currently support disabled students, drawing on evidence, research and analysis from the sector and beyond. It will make recommendations about how we can better ensure these students benefit from a fulfilling student experience.
The panel includes students and experts in higher education and disability policy who applied to join via an open recruitment process.
The panel members announced today are:
- Josh Bradbury, a current student at the University of Warwick who is completing a year abroad at the University of British Columbia.
- Helen Childs, Head of Disability, Neurodiversity and Accessibility at the University of Kent.
- John Harding, Head of the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre at the University of Cambridge.
- Stephanie Hayle, a current postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh who previously studied at the University of York, graduating in 2018.
- Patrick Johnson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Diversity, Inclusion and Students at the University of Law.
- Deborah Johnston, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Framework) at London South Bank University.
- Lucy Merritt, Education Policy Manager at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, a charitable organisation for blind and partially sighted people.
- Gurur Deniz Uyanik, who graduated in 2023 from the University of Sussex and is currently a parliamentary assistant in the House of Commons.
