Disability Access Plan

A Disability Access Plan (DAP) is a process used by the University to codify the needs of a disabled student. It is stored in SAMIS and can be accessed by certain staff members. It is different from anticipatory reasonable adjustments and a special programme of study and assessment. DAPs are also known as Level 2 Adjustments.

Getting a DAP

You do not necessarily need a formal diagnosis for a DAP. Many neurodivergent students are eligible for a DAP. Some possible reasons for having a DAP include:

• long-term mental health conditions
• long-term health conditions, mobility conditions and sensory impairments
• Specific Learning Difficulties/SpLDs (e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia)
• ADHD
• Autism Spectrum Conditions
• forms of neurodiversity

This list is not exhaustive! If you think you would benefit from a DAP, please get in touch with the Disability Service.

A DAP can do things like give you extra time in exams and coursework extensions, change how you receive your lectures, allow you to type in exams, and more. If this does not sound like enough, you should contact the Disability Service anyway and consider a special programme of study and assessment.

Non-compliance

If your DAP is not being followed, you can either escalate it yourself, via staff, via academic representation, or via a trusted friend. Unfortunately there is currently no way to escalate anonymously, because staff need to know what needs to change. If you would like advice on the potential consequences of escalation, or would like help understanding and explaining your rights, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (this is a free national service and not related to Bath). The SU Advice and Support service may also be able to advise you

By yourself =

Beware that a lot of DAPs (and ARAs) have weak wording like “where possible” or “aim to”. Proving non-compliance in these cases is difficult but don’t let that put you off. Sometimes you just need to understand why staff don’t want to make adjustments, but usually with DAP issues you are likely to be in the right. In that case it can be necessary to help the staff understand how to meet your needs collaboratively. However, as a student, the burden is never supposed to fall on you to advocate for yourself. Responsibility for meeting your DAP lies with the University. If you find you are spending considerable amounts of time trying to persuade staff to follow your DAP, please seek support through the other sections.

Staff

If there is a staff member that you trust, they can be a useful advocate. Some people to try are:

• A friendly lecturer who understands you
• Your Student Support Officer, if your department has one
• The SU Advice and Support
• The Disability Service

There is no shame in asking for help from staff. You are never wasting anyone's time by asking for help: they are paid to be around students and if they did not like that fact, they would not be working in a university.

Staff are, unfortunately, not all perfect. If one staff member rejects you, that does not mean you are doing anything wrong. If a staff member is unhelpful this can have a severe effect on you and I would recommend visiting Student Support so you have someone to cry to - they are really nice.

Some staff members feel like helping disabled students is someone else's job. This can result in you being "signposted" to services. If this is happening, it can make you feel very powerless. From a social side, it may be helpful to join the Disability Action Group groupchat where you can talk through your experiences with peers. In terms of actually fixing the issue, you can try explaining to the staff member that you need more than just signposting, or you can try talking to other people such as a different staff member, your academic reps or the SU Advice and Support.

Academic representation

You can find your academic rep via Find My Rep.

If you choose to contact your academic rep, you will need to be comfortable sharing the exact wording of your DAP with them. If this is not something you would like to do, it is better to contact a staff member who you trust to advocate on your behalf.

Please note that academic reps are volunteers and some of them will not know how to help you, or indeed might not reply at all. You can point them to this page which should help them know what to do. If your academic rep doesn't reply at all after a day or two (or isn't helpful), you can contact the department rep or faculty rep. Academic reps have all chosen to represent you, so please don't be afraid of wasting their time.

The chain of escalations to be followed by academic reps are as follows, stopping when the issue gets resolved:

1. Student or academic rep contacts unit convener (give them a week to respond)
2. Students or academic rep contacts Director of Studies (give them 3 days to respond). Please note that HR have confirmed that the Director of Studies has the authority to give direct orders to lecturers, although they may not be aware of this fact.
3. Student or academic rep contacts department rep
4. Department rep contacts Director of Teaching (give them 3 days to respond)
5. Department rep contacts Disability Service (give them 3 days to respond)
6. Department rep contacts head of department, and simultaneously, department rep contacts faculty rep. The head of department should usually be able to resolve any issues with ease, as they hold a lot of sway. However, they do not interact much with students, so the issue will need to be explained to them clearly.
7. Faculty rep contacts Associate Dean (Education), and simultaneously, faculty rep contacts Education Officer

These steps are flexible guidance and can be changed depending on the exact issue.