7 Steps to Equity for Disabled Doctoral Students: Recommendations from Disabled Students UK and The Open University

Disabled Student UK, The Open University 

Lindsay O’Dell

Professor of Critical Developmental Psychology & Director of the Graduate School, The Open University

Inma Alvarez Puente

Professor and Director of Postgraduate Research Studies in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, The Open University

Helen Bowes-Catton

Senior Lecturer at The Open University

Gráinne O Connor

Academic Researcher, The Open University

Nicoleta Tipi

Senior Lecturer in Operations And Supply Chain, The Open University

This document, created in partnership between Disabled Students UK and The Open University, provides 7 key steps to achieving equity for disabled doctoral students. Each of these steps suggests recommended actions arising from research by Disabled Students UK (DSUK), The Open University, and others.

Last updated 17 February 2026 

These recommendations are aimed particularly at:

  • Funders of doctoral training programmes, including UKRI and other funders external to universities
  • Universities
  • Regulators and advisory bodies including the Office for Students in England (OFS) and the UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Ombudsmen such as Office of the Independent Adjudicator

All of these organisations have a vital role to play in providing and enabling funding by ensuring equity for disabled PGRs. This guidance outlines specific recommendations to enable organisations to meet the requirements of disabled doctoral students and their legal duties as outlined in the 2010 Equalities Act and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland.

In keeping with the statutory definition of disability set out in the Equalities Act, this document uses the term ​‘disability’ inclusively to capture long term physical or mental health conditions, neurodivergence and other additional study needs.

Disabled students face significant challenges in accessing, participating and succeeding in doctoral studies. While the proportion of postgraduate researchers (PGRs) with declared disabilities is increasing (11% in 2019/20 to 18% 2023/24 (HESA, 2023) these students report poorer experiences of doctoral studies in comparison to non-disabled doctoral students.

PGRs are a diverse population and as such different groups of disabled PGRs will experience different issues and will have different requirements. Consideration of the diverse needs of disabled students, demands an intersectional approach, including gender, ethnicity and social class and the particular needs of international PGRs studying for a doctorate in the UK.

International students

  • When PGRs are in the UK on a visa this can complicate adjustments to the study period due to visa conditions.
  • Declaration levels were at 8% in 2024 for international doctoral students compared to 24% for home students (HESA, 2023)
  • In their review of their Terms and Conditions (Richards et al., 2025) UKRI have addressed the need to treat international students equitably. This needs due consideration where adjustments may be difficult to meet in light of visa requirements.
7 Steps to Equity for Disabled Doctoral Students UK Recommendations from Disabled Students UK and The Open University 
The Open University 

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