2026 Disabled Student Commitment Action Plan

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the University of Brighton’s Disabled Student Commitment Action Plan. This document sets out the key steps we will take in 2025-6 to enhance disabled students’ experience at the University.

The Disabled Student Commitment, developed by the Disabled Students’ Commission, outlines a set of objectives designed to improve the experiences of disabled students throughout their university journey — from pre admission, through study, to graduation and beyond. Shaped by disabled students themselves, the Commitment promotes collaboration across the higher education sector and calls for meaningful, sustained change in how universities approach disability inclusion.

At Brighton, we have a strong and longstanding commitment to supporting disabled students to achieve their full potential. Our Distinctively Brighton 2035 strategy places inclusion and equity at the very heart of our work, and we are proud that disabled students now represent 38% of our undergraduate student community. Our work in this area also aligns closely with our preparations for the University Mental Health Charter assessment in Autumn 2026.

This Action Plan has been shaped through extensive collaboration between students and colleagues from across the university. In October 2025, we established our first Disabled Student Forum in partnership with Brighton Students’ Union. This Forum meets regularly to identify priorities, share lived experience and co-create practical solutions to improve the experience of our disabled students. This work feeds directly into our Staff Disabled Student Commitment Steering Group, which brings together colleagues from across the university and has played a pivotal role in shaping the actions set out here.

The Action Plan outlines our priorities for the first year of this work. It is structured around the key touchpoints of the Disabled Student Commitment and references the Framework’s numbered objectives. As a public-facing document, it provides a clear overview of our commitments, supported by a more detailed internal action plan used by the Forum and Steering Group. We view our Action Plan as a living document, and our work will continue to evolve as our understanding deepens.

I am grateful to the many students and colleagues who have contributed their time, insight and expertise. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this work will have for our students, now and in the years ahead.

Professor David Walker
Pro-Vice Chancellor, Education and Students

Professor David Walker

Requests to share information

The first touchpoint of the Disabled Student Commitment centres around how information relating to a student’s disability is shared within the institution to ensure appropriate adjustments are enacted.

In 2025-26, we will:

  • Introduce improvements to the Learning Support Plan process to ensure that only pertinent disability information is requested from students, and that information is only requested once. (1,2)
  • Improve information for students to ensure they understand how information shared with the Disability and Learning Support Team will be shared. (3)
  • Consider how disability information may be shared outside the Learning Support Plan process to inform professional service delivery. (1)

Choosing a course of study

The second touchpoint of the Disabled Student Commitment recognises the need to provide all students with appropriate and timely information to make informed choices regarding their course of study.

In 2025-26, we will:

  • Reinforce collaboration between the Outreach, Recruitment and Events team and the Disability and Learning Support Team to ensure that planned activities include relevant information for disabled applicants to improve the Information Advice and Guidance we provide. (12)
  • Review online resources held by the Outreach team to enhance their accessibility. (11)
  • Use information from the Disability and Learning Support Team to provide better information for school and college advisory teams regarding disability support systems at university to encourage applicant engagement. (12,13)

Transition to university

The third touchpoint of the Disabled Student Commitment centres on how disabled students are supported during their transition into study and the university community.

In 2025-26, we will:

  • Continue to develop the Disabled Student Forum group to ensure that the group feels confident to inform our policy and practice, and to co-create solutions to address gaps in the disabled student experience. (15)
  • Specifically engage with the Disabled Student Forum to review our Belong at Brighton initiative to ensure it provides the correct targeted support for disabled students during their transition to the university. (21)
  • Review our approach to Learning Support Plan process to ensure that disability support is in place from day one of a student’s course wherever possible. (20)
  • Continue the partnership working between our Estates team and the Brighton Student Union to improve awareness of Access Audit information on the university website and to build on the successful BSU “Find it, Flag it, Fixed it” campaign to identify maintenance trends and areas for facilities improvement. (22)

On course experience

The fourth touchpoint of the Disabled Student Commitment calls upon universities to consider how universities create an inclusive culture, where disabled students are supported to achieve their full potential without the need for additional stress or admin burden.

In 2025-26, we will:

  • Develop a baseline standard for Inclusive Practice through central policy and staff training, so that disability support becomes anticipatory rather than reactionary and that university design for learning can benefit all students. (25)
  • Consider models for effective inclusion as part of the university’s Curriculum for the Future transformation programme, when redesigning teaching and assessment design, policy and practice and when engaging with placement providers. (25,26,28)
  • Develop staff disability training for both academic and professional services teams, to promote a better understanding of how to effectively support and enable disabled students to achieve at all levels. (27)
  • Take a whole-university approach to embedding our Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy for students and staff as part of the University Mental Health Charter accreditation process in Autumn 2026. (30) 

Moving forward

The final touchpoint of the Disabled Student Commitment articulates how institutions should support disabled students for their onward journey into employment or further study.

In 2025-26, we will:

  • Develop training for our Careers and Employability team to ensure staff are equipped to understand the perceived employment challenges of students with disabilities and neurodivergence and to ensure that all teams within the service are offering appropriate adjustments. (34)
  • Continue the development of career development advice and placement opportunities embedded within course design. (37)
  • Enhance targeted materials for disabled students to ensure they have a strong awareness of the range of Information, Advice and Guidance services available to them. (36)
  • Build disabled students’ confidence in articulating their personal strengths as they move forward, through the provision of targeted events and mentoring programmes. (36)
  • Nurture greater collaboration between the Placement Team and the Disability and Learning Support Team to discuss how disability information can be shared with placement providers and how disabled students’ engagement with placement opportunities can be strengthened. (35)