Disability is a ‘protected characteristic’ under the Equality Act 2010 and you cannot legally discriminate against people with that characteristic.
As part of this, you must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to minimise disadvantages to disabled pupils, staff and parents. If an adjustment is reasonable, you must make it.
Definition of disability
Regulation 6 of the Equality Act 2010 says a person has a disability if:
- They have a physical or mental impairment, and
- The impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice, which applies to maintained schools and academies, gives further guidance on this definition on page 16. It says that:
- ‘Substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’
- ‘Long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’
What are reasonable adjustments?
Pupils Schools have a duty to