Mainstreaming adjustments

Mainstreaming refers to the practice of making reasonable adjustments that are commonly granted to disabled students available to everyone. This is an inclusive practice that can also remove barriers for widening participation students or those with other protected characteristics. For some disabled students, it can reduce or remove the need for them to make a disclosure and engage with DLSS registration and processes, if their main needs are met via a mainstreaming approach. 

Under the Equality Act 2010, there is a duty to anticipate disabled students' needs. At University of Edinburgh, we know that more than 20% of our student population disclose a disability each year when they apply. Using an inclusive and mainstreamed approach to common reasonable adjustments demonstrates that we are anticipating our disabled students’ needs and meeting our statutory duty. 

For the vast majority of disabled students – regardless of their conditions(s) – the main thing they need is more time, therefore the most common reasonable adjustment for students is extra time (for exams, class tests, or coursework). Many Schools already use a mainstreaming approach in relation to extra time for class tests. For example, if a class test should be completed within 20 minutes, allowing 40 minutes for all students to complete the task. This practice allows everyone plenty of time to complete the task. It also removes the need to separate or otherwise identify which students have adjustments, and streamlines the process for staff. 

The majority of students will welcome an inclusive and mainstreamed approach to timed tests. However, sometimes disabled students will interpret the common extra time reasonable adjustment to mean that they always should have more time than their peers, regardless of whether enough time is provided for everyone. In terms of the duty to make reasonable adjustments, in this scenario the mainstreaming approach has met their needs – because they have enough time to complete the test even if they take more time to complete the task than their non-disabled peers. This approach does require clear communication to all students about the expected time needed to complete the task and that extra time is built in for those that may need it. 

DLSS supports more than 6,000 students annually across all Schools to create individual Schedules of Adjustments dependent on the student’s needs and the specifics of their programme of study. These outline the additional support the student requires above the baseline standards, which should be available for all. Many disabled students will require specific individualised adjustments in order to have an equitable chance of success in their studies. Mainstreaming some common reasonable adjustments does not remove the need for additional adjustments for the majority of disabled students. 

Baselines standards are part of the Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy and are a list of 7 mainstreamed adjustments. These have been in place since 2013 (with number 7 added in 2023). Prior to 2023 these were referred to as mainstreamed adjustments, but this was updated in 2023. For any adjustments not covered by the AILP baseline standards, creating processes that are inclusive for all students and encompass a common reasonable adjustment would be considered mainstreaming.