Reasonable adjustments and competence standards

Guidance for staff on the implementation of adjustments in the context of academic or professional competence standards

The Equality Act 2010 defines a "competence standard" as any academic, medical, or similar requirement used to evaluate if someone possesses a certain level of skill or ability.

As long as the competence standards of a study programme is robust and non-discriminatory, they are not subject to adjustments for disabled students. 

Legally, there's no requirement to modify a competence standard. However, the University might need to adapt how it measures these standards.

This means that if a disabled student is eligible for support according to the Disability & Learning Support Service, their academic School is responsible for implementing this support.  Such support could involve modifying how the student proves they meet the competence standard.

Examples

  • When asking a visually impaired student to demonstrate their ability to read French, it may be a reasonable adjustment to provide the student with text in a large font. This does not impact their capacity to demonstrate they have met the competence standard.  
  • Asking a disabled law student to demonstrate knowledge of certain areas of law in order to obtain their degree is a competence standard. The student’s adjustments should not compromise this competence standard.  
  • Asking students to complete a piece of work in a certain time period is not a competence standard unless the competence being tested is the ability to do something within a limited time period.

Further guidance

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