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Student record 2015/16 - Disability

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Student record 2015/16

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Disability


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valid entries
Typefield
Short nameDISABLE
Description

This field records the type of disability that a student has, on the basis of the student's own self-assessment.

Applicable toEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Coverage

All students where any Instance.REDUCEDI = 00, 01 or 07

Valid entries and labels
CodeLabel
00No known disability
02Blind/partially sighted
03Deaf/hearing impairment
04Wheelchair user/mobility difficulties
05Personal care support
06Mental health difficulties
07An unseen disability, e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, asthma
08Two or more impairments and/or disabling medical conditions
10Autistic Spectrum Disorder
11A specific learning difficulty e.g. dyslexia
51A specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or AD(H)D
53A social/communication impairment such as Asperger's syndrome/other autistic spectrum disorder
54A long standing illness or health condition such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease, or epilepsy
55A mental health condition, such as depression, schizophrenia or anxiety disorder
56A physical impairment or mobility issues, such as difficulty using arms or using a wheelchair or crutches
57Deaf or a serious hearing impairment
58Blind or a serious visual impairment uncorrected by glasses
96A disability, impairment or medical condition that is not listed above
97Information refused
98Information not sought
99Not known
Notes

With the introduction of the Disability Equality Duty, and on the recommendation of the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), HESA has introduced a version of the coding frame introduced by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).

This new coding frame is included in the 2010/11 specification of the UCAS data for HESA (*J), and for students entering through UCAS from this academic year, this information will be available from UCAS via the *J transaction. Disability is recorded on the basis of the student's own self-assessment.

The additional valid entries for 2010/11 entrants onwards are coded 51 to 58.

Only serious visual impairments are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). For example, a person whose eyesight can be corrected through the use of prescription lenses is not covered by the DDA; neither is a simple inability to distinguish between red and green.

The same logic does not apply to hearing aids. If someone needs to wear a hearing aid, then they are likely to be covered by the DDA. However, both hearing and visual impairments have to have a substantial adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities in order for a person to be covered by the DDA. For more information see the Secretary of State's Revised Guidance on the definition of disability.

The pre-2010/11 valid entry codes 08 'Multiple disabilities and 96 'A disability not listed above' have been re-labelled to be consistent with the UCAS (*J) file entries as follows: 08 'Two or more impairments and/or disabling medical conditions' and 96 'A disability, impairment or medical condition that is not listed above'. There is no change required for continuing students already coded 08 or 96.

For 2010/11 entrants onwards there are no valid entry codes to replace 97 'Information refused', 98 'Information not sought' or 99 'Not known'. For new entrants from 2010/11 onwards, where it is not known whether or not a student has a disability, code 00 'No known disability' should be returned.

HESA will continue to accept codes 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10, 11, 97, 98 and 99 for continuing students (where Instance.COMDATE is before 2010-08-01), so there will be no requirement for providers to resurvey or recode. However, providers are welcome to use the new codes for continuing students if they wish to do so.

Codes 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10, 11, 97, 98 and 99 can only be used where Instance.COMDATE is before 2010-08-01.

If this field is coded 02-96 indicating that the student has a disability, then Instance.DISALL should be coded 4, 5 or 9.

Quality rules
Quality rules relating to this field are displayed here.
Reason required

To permit disability-based analysis; for monitoring levels and trends in participation by particular groups of people; to monitor take-up of Disabled Students' Allowance as Disabled Students' Allowance is now not means tested; to support the allocation for disability premium; to permit analysis based on type of disability.

Part of
Field length2
Minimum occurrences0
Maximum occurrences1
Schema components
Element: DISABLE
OwnerHESA
Version1.1
Date modified2015-07-28
Change management notesA sentence in the Notes section which referred to code 53 as a cognitive impairment has been removed.

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