A careers adviser’s guide to supporting SEND and disabled young people

UCAS research indicates that disabled students often experience a longer, more complex decision-making journey. Earlier conversations about their ambitions and next steps early can help them manage any additional considerations or challenges they may face. 

Early careers information, advice and guidance can help build confidence and add clarity around future course and career choices. Career conversations can also be a space to discuss workplace rights, reasonable adjustments and how to identify disability-confident employers that demonstrate inclusive recruitment practices (more details below).

Familiarise yourself with the legal protections and rights of students and employees afforded by the Equality Act 2010 – and the right of disabled people to have reasonable adjustments (more details below). It is worth highlighting that protection under the Equality Act is not solely based on formal diagnosis, but also the impact of a condition or disability on daily activities. If a young person is waiting for an assessment, they can contact Disability Rights UK for support while awaiting diagnosis. 

Not all young people will feel comfortable sharing a condition or disability, and it is important to recognise that this is their choice. Protection under the Equality Act 2010 does not depend on formally telling a course provider or employer about a disability. You may need to reassure them that information shared about a disability is used to help identify those who would benefit from support – and to put the right support in place. In practice, universities, training providers and employers can only make reasonable adjustments if they know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that a person has a disability and may need support.

• Read our guide to sharing a disability in the UCAS application.
• Read more about sharing a disability from Disability Rights UK.

A disability or condition should not prevent someone from achieving their ambitions, and reasonable adjustments are there to help individuals access courses and employment.

Many students encounter challenges on their career journeys but disabled students may find there are different barriers to achieving their ambitions. 

In some rare instances, careers or jobs may not be accessible to them due to practical limitations that cannot be overcome through reasonable adjustments. It’s important young people can explore their choices with someone who can both encourage high aspiration and help them understand what is realistic for them. We want to help them avoid meeting unexpected barriers to following a particular role, after they have invested time and energy preparing for it. 

For examples and case studies of students where earlier guidance would have helped them make career choices more suitable for their individual needs, search for the ‘Supporting disabled (SEND/ALN) students with career planning’ module on the UCAS Professional Development Platform. This is a free resource, but you need to register to access it.

Young people rely on a range of trusted adults for advice and guidance when considering their future, so make sure they have the knowledge and tools to make these conversations effective. 

Parents and carers may have misconceptions about disability support so make sure they understand their child’s rights in education and employment, and the ways in which their child can be helped to achieve their ambitions.

SENCOs/ALNCOs/ASN Coordinators, learning support staff,and pastoral teams know students and their needs well and are often a source of trusted advice and guidance. They may be well placed to help young people advocate for themselves and their needs and prepare for conversations with those organising support and adjustments. This might include helping students explain any functional impact, encouraging them to consider what helps them succeed, and practising conversations about support. 

To help those supporting a disabled young person through the UCAS process, we've developed a Supporter’s Toolkit. This step-by-step guide doesn’t assume background knowledge of applying to higher education and provides the specialist information students need to know.

Continued signposting to trusted networks, specialist organisations, and resources will provide valuable extra support at every stage of their education journey. 

• Specialist organisations like EmployAbility, Ingeus, Evenbreak and MyPlus Students' Club can be hugely helpful – providing job boards and a wealth of resources, mentoring, and advice for navigating the workplace with a disability.
• Programmes such as Ingeus's Change 100 also help students looking for paid summer internships, professional development, and mentoring.
• Charities with a specific focus, such as the RNIB or RNID, also provide tailored guidance on employment and workplace rights, connecting students with professionals who have faced similar challenges.

In school or college, we typically use the terms:

• special educational needs/SEND (England and Northern Ireland)
• additional learning needs/ALN (in Wales)
• additional support needs/ASN (Scotland) 

However, these terms are not used in higher education, training or employment. Instead, the term ‘disability’ is used.

This is because ‘disability’ covers a wider range of conditions that impact someone’s day-to-day life – including mental health conditions, learning differences or neurodiversity, and long-term health conditions. This term also offers legal protection to students, trainees, and employees under the Equality Act 2010, where they are also entitled to reasonable adjustments allowing them to access learning and assessments and facilities. 

We strongly recommend making sure young people and their parents, guardian or carers are made aware of this change early on – and the reasons for the change. This awareness will help them find the right information and get the support they need to progress to their next steps.

Students and their parents/carers should be made aware there is no SENCO or ALNCO in higher education. Instead their support will be arranged through the disability adviser or disability services team, and most universities also have a mental health adviser. 

Sometimes these teams are called something slightly different (such as additional learning support team), or names specific to the university or college. However, they should be able to search for disability support on their website if they are unsure. Alternatively, the admissions team or student support team will be happy to put them in touch with the right person.

At school or college, some students will have had a statutory document outlining their learning needs and provisions. These are coordinated by the local authority and delivered with support from the learning support team in school or college. They are called different things across the four UK nations: 

• England: Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP)
• Scotland: Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP)
• Wales: Individual Development Plan (IDP      
• Northern Ireland: Statement of Special Educational Needs

When moving into higher education, apprenticeships or employment, support arrangements change. These documents cease, but they can provide useful evidence for DSA assessments, support Access To Work arrangements and inform reasonable adjustments. 

Young people who may have never advocated for their own support needs before, might find this feels new and challenging; preparing them for support conversations early will help build their confidence and independence, easing the transition. Collaborate with learning support staff to help young people advocate for themselves and articulate their support needs. This could include helping them explain how their condition or disability impacts their daily life, what has helped them to succeed, and practising conversations about support. 

In some cases, students may need to provide supporting documentation to arrange reasonable adjustments or access (e.g. Disabled Students' Allowance). It may be helpful for them to have this documentation ready before they start applying for courses, apprenticeships or jobs.

The type of support available to them will also look different to what they may have received in school or college. For example, support in higher education is delivered through reasonable adjustments and Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) through the student funding body of their own country – read more information about this on our DSA pages. Encouraging young people to research how support works in different settings will help them make informed and confident decisions about their next steps. 

Disability Rights UK has a factsheet explaining support in different settings after school or college.

For students considering higher education, we have a guide to speaking to the disability or mental health coordinator at the university.

The Equality Act 2010 protects disabled people from discrimination, harassment, and unfair treatment in education and employment. This is why it's important young people are familiar with the word ‘disability’ and we try to break down stigma associated with this word. 

Read Disability Rights UK’s guidance on the Equality Act and disabled people.

Students and employees are also legally entitled to ‘reasonable adjustments’. These are changes an employer or course provider must make to ensure a disabled person can access a job, course or facilities. 

Adjustments might include physical changes to buildings (e.g. ramps), accessible learning materials (e.g. large print resources), exam arrangements (e.g. additional time), specialist equipment (e.g. assistive software). This also applies to interviews and entry tests/examinations. 

• Disability Rights UK has suggestions on adjustments by disability type.
• Find out more about reasonable adjustments from AbilityNet.

Key takeaways:

1. Having a disability, mental health condition or long-term health condition does not automatically prevent someone from meeting fitness to practise requirements.
2. Sharing a condition or disability can help ensure adjustments are considered at an early stage.
3. Disabled students are entitled to reasonable adjustments to support them in meeting required standards, provided these do not compromise essential competence or public safety.

If someone wants to follow a professional career in which they are responsible for the health, safety and wellbeing of others (e.g. medicine, dentistry, nursing or social work), they must meet fitness to practise standards. These standards demonstrate that an individual has the required skills, knowledge, and professional behaviours to practise safely and effectively. 

Professional bodies set these standards, and course providers and employers must ensure students or trainees meet them. The assessment may be a health questionnaire and sometimes an occupational health assessment. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

Disabled individuals may worry that fitness to practise requirements will prevent them from pursuing certain careers or studying certain subjects at university. However, the Equality Act 2010 requires universities, colleges and employers to make reasonable adjustments (see above) to support disabled people in meeting the required standards. Adjustments can relate to how learning, assessment or placements are delivered, but cannot change the fundamental competence or safety standards required for the profession. 

Encourage students to seek advice early and discuss their support requirements. Being open and sharing relevant information can help them access the support they need to practise safely and effectively.

Each professional body publishes its own guidance, so signpost young people to their websites or encourage them to speak to the course provider before making an application to study a professional course. Some professional bodies are listed below but course providers or employers can help if they’re not sure which applies. 

• Education Workforce Council (Wales)
• General Dental Council
• General Medical Council
• General Pharmaceutical Council
• Health and Care Professions Council
• Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Royal College of Occupational Therapists
• Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
• Scottish Social Services Council
• Social Care Council
• Social Work England

Fitness to practise decisions focus on whether an individual can practise safely and uphold professional standards. A disability or mental health condition is unlikely to prevent someone from meeting these standards. 

Concerns arise where there are issues relating to honesty, professional conduct or failure to engage with appropriate support. Examples include:

• failing to share something relevant with the employer or course provider, or deliberately misleading them
• serious or repeated professional misconduct, including not following guidance
• academic misconduct or disciplinary offences
• failure to follow agreed support or safety processes where this creates risk
• not taking responsibility for seeking appropriate support or managing a condition 

Course providers should ensure students understand what professional standards they need to meet and how to meet them. Where a student has a disability or mental health condition, they are entitled to reasonable adjustments to help them achieve fitness to practise standards under the Equality Act 2010. This applies to both classroom and placement environments. 

Students should be consulted about appropriate adjustments, and occupational health or disability advisers might also be involved in identifying support.

Universities and colleges offering professional courses must comply with the professional bodies’ regulations. They are responsible for ensuring students’ safety and protecting the public.

If a student is unable to meet fitness to practise requirements for a regulated profession, this does not necessarily prevent them from studying a related subject or pursuing alternative roles within the same field – they may not be intending to practise a particular profession directly or be studying it for other reasons. 

As an adviser, it is a good idea to check a student’s motivations behind their course choices; if a certain career option is not accessible to them, help them explore related careers where their interests, knowledge, and skills can be applied.

Try some UCAS resources to help them broaden and explore their options:

• Try the UCAS Careers Quiz to see what pathways and roles they might be well suited to and explore different careers, industries, and employers. Prospects’ job profiles can also help them explore these options.
• UCAS’ subject guides can help them understand what different courses and subjects could lead to, and our subject tasters can give them an idea of what different courses might be like in higher education.
• UCAS’ industry guides can help them explore different industries where they could apply their skills and knowledge. They can also read employer profiles to see where they might find a good fit.

More information about fitness to practise standards

• Read guidance from the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE).
• Read an article from the Professional Standards Authority.

Competence standards are different to fitness to practise requirements. They describe the level of knowledge, skill or ability a student must demonstrate in order to pass a course or qualify for a profession. 

The Equality Act defines a competence standard as 'an academic, medical, or other standard applied for the purposes of determining whether or not a person has a particular level of competence or ability'. 

Under the Equality Act 2010, reasonable adjustments cannot change a genuine competence standard – meaning the required level of competence itself cannot be lowered or altered. However, adjustments can be made to how a student demonstrates that competence, provided the required standard itself stays the same. 

Course providers must ensure that competence standards are fair and necessary, and assessment methods do not disadvantage disabled students where reasonable adjustments can reduce or remove barriers. 

Reassure students that competence standards exist to ensure safety and professional quality – not to exclude disabled people. Many disabled students meet these standards successfully with the right support in place.