Accessibility of Schools

Under the 2010 Equality Act all schools have a duty to ensure that they are accessible to children and young people with SEND. This is underpinned by the idea of 'reasonable adjustments'. The Equality Act lists three requirements in relation to reasonable adjustments:

1. where a provision, criterion or practice of a school puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, it must take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.
2. where a physical feature puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.
3. where a disabled person would, but for the provision of an auxiliary aid, be put at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to provide the auxiliary aid.

Schools have an explicit duty to comply with the first requirement. They must also comply with the third requirement unless the auxiliary aid is provided by the Local Authority through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Schools must demonstrate compliance with the second requirement by publishing an Accessibility Plan as part of their Special Educational Needs Information Report. In the plans schools must set out how they plan to increase access to 

1. The curriculum
2. The physical environment in school
3. Information that is given to pupils in writing

The Local Authority must also produce an Accessibility Strategy which sets out how it will support the schools it maintains in complying with their accessibility duties. You can access the Local Authority's Accessibility Strategy in the downloads section of this page.