This new act requires Faculties and individual tutors, from September 2003, to make reasonable adjustments which permit students with disabilities to participate fully in Higher Education, and to ensure that at no point in the educational process we are giving students with disabilities less favourable treatment. SENDA does not require us to make wholesale changes to teaching materials, practice, and curricula but the DED from December 2006 does require the meaningful involvement of disabled staff and students to identify barriers and suggest how these barriers can be removed.


The History Faculty Undergraduate Studies Committee requested that a short summary of important points be circulated to those teaching for the Faculty. Further detailed guidelines are available from a central resource file held in the Faculty Office. Please contact Jacqui Julier on jacqueline.julier@history.ox.ac.uk if you wish to consult this.

a) Who are my disabled students?

Students are asked to declare their disability on their UCAS forms but students may choose not to disclose, or may not be aware of, a disability until after admissions, at which point they may choose to complete a disclosure form. Whenever a formal disclosure is made this information is then sent to the relevant College Disability Contact and Faculty Disability Contact. Although you will probably be fully informed by your college, the Faculty will also contact the Senior History Tutors in each college where there are new undergraduate and post-graduate students with declared disabilities. If you are teaching a student from another college, that student's college tutor should tell you whether the student has a specific disability for which you need to make adjustments. Please be aware that in cases of dyslexia a formal assessment has to be made. The Proctor’s guidance on this matter is available from the Disability Office.

b) What is my role as a college tutor?

Students with disabilities will have varying levels of contact with the University Disability Office, depending on their disability. Your college may also appoint personal or welfare tutors for disabled students.

It is, however, the subject tutor's responsibility to:

i) ascertain which lectures and classes a student wishes to attend and contact those delivering these sessions, informing them that a student with specific disabilities will be attending their lectures/classes with suggestions about what steps can be taken to increase accessibility of provision. It is good practice to have handouts available in electronic format in advance and to hold lectures and seminars, especially those open to the public, in accessible rooms. If accessibility information is made clear in advance then all students and staff can be made aware so information can be passed on to those attending.

ii) if outside tutorials are arranged for the student, ensure that the tutors concerned are aware of the student's disability and steps which can be taken to increase accessibility of provision.

iii) contact the Faculty Office (faculty.office@history.ox.ac.uk) about making special arrangements in terms of access to class, lecture and seminar venues. Faculty office staff will contact Examination Schools, or make necessary arrangements in relation to other venues.

iv) contact the History Faculty Library (valerie.lawrence@bodleian.ox.ac.uk) to ensure that the Library is aware of the student and his or her needs.

c) What about tutorials, lectures and classes?

There are general measures which all tutors, lecturers and class leaders can take to improve the overall accessibility of their tutorials, lectures and classes. Suggestions are available in documents available from The Oxford Learning Institute: Creating Accessible Lectures. These are available from http://www.learning.ox.ac.uk/oli.php?page=181.

Some students may find it difficult or impossible to take lecture notes and will therefore need to make sound-recordings of lectures. In these cases, the student will complete a Pro-forma for Recording Lectures and return it to the Disability Office. If the Disability Office is satisfied that the need for such recordings is demonstrated, the Faculty will be informed, and will in turn contact all of the student’s lecturers to advise accordingly.

By completing the form the student will agree that the recordings will only be used for personal private study, will not be reproduced or passed on or made available to any third party other than for transcription purposes. The student must also agree to delete any recordings once they are no longer needed. It is also made clear to the student in the form that the content of the lectures remains the intellectual property of the lecturer delivering them.



The Faculty holds information about the accessibility and facilities of the different teaching spaces available in Faculty premises. If required, a hearing loop is available for use in the Lecture Theatre, and a portable hearing loop can be set up in the other seminar rooms. The Operational Services Manager (email: facilities.officer@history.ox.ac.uk or telephone 15000) will be able to advise. Details of the accessibility of University venues are available at: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/access/.

d) Graduate Students

Graduate students’ needs with regard to disability are also primarily the responsibility of the college and your Dean of Graduate students should be aware of this. Graduates are also encouraged to seek advice from the Graduate Studies Officer of the Faculty. If you are approached by a graduate student about a disability issue in your role as college tutor, you must act on this request. Please contact the Graduate Studies Office (email: graduate.admissions@history.ox.ac.uk) if you are in need of advice.

e) Accessibility of material – electronic versions if possible

SENDA guidelines suggest that material should be available in electronic form wherever this is possible, which allows the material to be converted to different formats for ease of accessibility.It is recognized that in many cases this may not at present be possible. Tutors are asked when revising their reading lists or creating new ones, to annotate them fully to indicate which resources are available in electronic form, enabling them to be converted to different formats.

f) Assessment

It falls to colleges to ensure that the Proctors are aware of any special arrangements which need to be made for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities taking exams. As a college tutor, you may wish to initiate this. It is very important that medical certificates are completed correctly. The Proctor’s notes of guidance on this matter are available from the Disability Office – Adjustments in course and examination arrangements (www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/disab/).

g) Admissions

Guidelines are available from the Disability Office - Admission of Students with Disabilities (www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/disab/ ).

h) Information for students

The History Faculty has a disability policy and has formulated guidelines for students with disabilities, available on the Faculty website and in handbooks.

The Faculty's position

The named 'disability contact' for the History Faculty is the Administrator, Richard Sykes. The Faculty now also has a disability working group, chaired by the Vice-Chairman of the Faculty Board and Chairman of the Undergraduate Studies Committee. It meets in Week 2 of each term.

Overview for Lecturers and Tutors:
SENDA (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act) 2001 /
DED (Disability Equality Duty) 2006