OfS looks to launch statement of expectations to address ‘deeply concerning’ UK disabled student needs

The Office for Students (OfS) is to launch a ‘statement of expectations’ in early 2027, aimed at addressing what education providers should be offering as support for disabled students in the UK.

The announcement, made at the Universities UK conference last week, comes as the regulator looks to work in collaboration with sector stakeholders to develop what the ‘principle-based’ approach will look like, with the terms of that process set to be announced shortly.

The move comes in the wake of the OfS introducing its E6 condition of registration regarding the prevention of harassment and sexual misconduct in August last year, following an earlier statement of expectations published in April 2021.

Stephanie Connelly, a university disputes expert with Pinsent Masons, said the announcement by the OfS highlighted the concerns about the persistent barriers disabled students face in higher education.

“The OfS has been clear that its new statement of expectations will be principle-based, giving providers flexibility in how they meet those standards,” she said, “Crucially, any regulatory response appears to be linked to breaches of existing conditions of registration, rather than introducing a new condition at this stage.”

“While not yet a standalone disability support related condition, this approach suggests the OfS sees a route to enforcement through its current framework, potentially via conditions such as B6, which already addresses student support and engagement,” she said.

“It took time for the OfS to introduce condition E6 on harassment and sexual misconduct; this latest announcement may mark the beginning of a similar journey toward a dedicated condition for disabled students. It will be important to watch how this develops in practice, both the expectations themselves and what enforcement ultimately looks like.”

The OfS said in announcing the new statement of expectations that it would be principle based to allow institutions to decide how best to ensure they could meet the requirements – but warned that it would be monitoring the impact of the statement, to understand if it’s achieving progress correctly.

“If we see evidence to suggest that a university or college may not be meeting these expectations, we may take action, including considering if this suggests a breach of one of our conditions of registration,” added the OfS’ Suzanne Carrie, head of student equity and welfare.