DEMOS Project - Module: Disability Awareness

Definitions (continued)

World Health Organisation (WHO)
Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS)
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)

Interestingly the system that is used within higher education for collecting statistics and categorising disabled students uses impairment as its focus. The system has been adopted from the UCAS application forms on which applicants are asked to give information relating to disability, special needs or medical condition. 10 categories are used to describe students and applicants, these are:

0. None.
1. You have dyslexia.
2. You are blind or partially sighted.
3. You are deaf or hearing impaired.
4. You use a wheelchair or have mobility difficulties.
5. You need personal care or assistance.
6. You have mental health difficulties.
7. You have a disability that cannot be seen for example diabetes, epilepsy or a heart condition.
8. You have two or more of the above.
9. You have a disability, special need or medical condition that is not listed.

For more information about this system and a learning activity that examines this issue from a social model perspective see our admissions module.

I think at that stage I made it very, very clear what my disability was. I made that very clear at the interview. But I don't think they actually realised the extent of it. I wasn't told what that kind of support that would be or the extent of it.

Monica, 3rd year, deaf student

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