Reflections on the second year as undergraduates:‘access’ and matters of the socio-cultural for students with identified disabilities.

This paper presents findings from the second year of our commissioned research: a longitudinal study on transition and the question of ‘access’ to Higher Education for students with identified disabilities (2009-2012). Low self esteem linked with low academic achievement are distinct factors highlighted in the research on learning and access to education for university students with disabilities (Rhodes and Nevill, 2004; Pollak, 2005; Goode 2007). Whilst there are many international policy and statutory requirements regarding education for students, publications and research to date show that, whilst we have made significant inroads nationally and internationally, the matter of exclusion for students with disabilities is still very much in existence (Madriaga, 2007, Vickerman and Blundell 2010).

Our work drew on the aforementioned publications, emerging as an attempt to understand and subsequently address the barriers. The research is being carried out over three years (2009-2012) within two UK Universities, making use of participatory research methods with a sample population from one undergraduate education programme.