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Press Index
Contact Barbara Waters for all media enquiries, including
- comments from Skill
- briefings on key issues
- finding case studies
Telephone 020 7450 0620 (reception – office hours)
Email BWaters@skill.org.uk
Skill often contributes articles to magazines and journals on topics in its field. Contact Anne Brook anne@skill.org.ukto discuss possible contributions.
Read about the experiences of individual disabled people in post-16 education and different career areas
Access Skill’s information booklets on a wide range of issue affecting disabled students, trainees and jobseekers
Key facts for journalists
Disabled people have only had legal rights in education since 2002, when the Disability Discrimination Act Part 4: Education came into force. There is still a lot of work to do to eliminate unfavourable treatment and make rights a reality
Statistics from the former Disability Rights Commission (DRC) show that only 1 in 20 disabled people are at a college of further or higher education, or university, compared to 1 in 10 of the rest of the population
In July 2007, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) published the widening participation performance indicators for individual higher education institutions. These record the number of people applying for Disabled Students’ Allowances at each institution. For individual statistics, visit www.hesa.ac.uk/pi/. Indicators before 2002/03 are available from the HEFCE website
In December 2006, the Disability Equality Duty (DED) came into force. This new legislation means that public sector organisations, including schools and colleges, hospitals, and local and central government, must promote equality of opportunity and ensure that disabled people are treated fairly. It aims to bring about a cultural change by making organisations assess the impact of their policies and activities. Information on the new duty is available on the EHRC website
Between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007, Skill’s Information Service answered 2,232 enquiries, more than half of which were from disabled students or their families
