UCAS stats are misleading, but then so are institutions enrollment figures for the student
declaring a special need. We know how to define a disability and why we want this information
but applicants are not necessarily steeped in the ins and outs of the subject. The numbers
declaring a disability does not seem to indicate much coyness or reluctance to reveal, quite the
reverse I get to see most (should be all) UCAS forms where a disability has been declared.
This could be a daunting prospect were it not for the fact that the vast majority have asthma,
wear glasses or the vague categories 7 and 9 - hidden disability or other which they fail to
specify, or have dyslexia (but with the prerequisit GCSEs behind them. (yes of course asthma
could have implications for workshop activity). Ticking the wrong box isn't a problem as there
is only one box to consider where they note a number 0-9 dependent on what they think their
disability is. Should they indicate deafness or partial sight it would be wise to follow then
up anyway. (and find out they wear glasses for reading)
Bryan Jones
London Guildhall University
n Fri, 06
Nov 1998 08:00:17 +0000 Jack Cannon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Good morning everyone. I have just joined dis-forum and hope to make a
> useful contribution.
>
> I am currently working on a project for my University which requires
> some research into disabled student numbers. A throwaway line from a
> staff member here suggested that UCAS statistics are very often wrong in
> two ways, neither of which is the fault of UCAS:
>
> Students do not declare their disabilities for fear of rejection (as
> opposed to Acceptance)
>
> Students tick the wrong boxes and establishments find that they have a
> deaf student where, for example, they were expecting a visually impaired
> student.
>
> Has any establishment done any comparitive statistical analysis covering
> these problems and does anyone have any comments?
>
> Kindest regards
>
> Jack Cannon
> Disability Officer - Library and Information Services (Computing)
> University of Greenwich
>
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