“my voice has been heard” A partnership of learning with disabled students in Higher Education.

Disabled students constitute a growing demographic in UK Higher Education (HE) yet face more challenging study trajectories, including higher rates of extensions, deferrals, and repeats. Reasonable Adjustments aim to mitigate these disadvantages, but students and staff often lack knowledge and confidence in their effective use. Despite the rising disabled student population, there remains a significant gap in methods that prioritise the student voice in the design, implementation and evaluation of support systems.
This research, conducted in partnership with Transforming Access and Student Outcomes (TASO), investigated experiences of Reasonable Adjustments among students and staff. It demonstrates how a partnership of learning with disabled students embeds ‘real world’ knowledge and expertise into HE support structures.
Using a multistage mixed methods framework rooted in design-based research, the project sought not only to drive action but to understand why the action should occur. A Core Collaborative Team comprising academic staff, professional services, senior management, an autistic postdoctoral researcher, and an autistic postgraduate researcher. Expertise from lived disability experience guided the research, ensuring accessible implementation.
Findings reveal that co-creation with disabled students impacts not just resource development but also enhances staff and student knowledge, understanding, and agency. This project highlights the transformative potential of a partnership of learning, fostering student motivation, confidence, belonging, and engagement, alongside stronger staff-student relationships.