Statistics and trends

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The most recent figures available from HESA are for 2003/04. By comparing them with those for 1998/99 we can get a general idea of the amount of change that has occurred over a recent five-year period.

The figures below only show students in the first year of their first degree, so the total numbers of students with disabilities in HE are much higher. However we can use this sample to get a good indication of trends.

Comparison of number of UK students in the first year of their first degree by declared disability
	1998/1999	2003/2004	% change
Dyslexia	4,403	11,865	169
Blind or partially sighted	460	630	37
Deaf or hearing impairment	698	960	38
Wheelchair user or mobility difficulties	515	770	50
Personal care support	30	35	17
Mental health difficulties	289	1,065	269
Autistic spectrum disorder	not recorded	60	-
An unseen disability	6,887	4,350	-37
Multiple disabilities	488	1,910	291
Other disability	1,684	2,690	60
No known disability	293,211	354,175	21
Not known/sought	-	2,695	-

Adapted from HESA . The disability categories indicate the type of disability that a student has on the basis of their own self-assessment, and are consistent with those used by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

So what changed in those five years?

The number of first-year students with no known disability increased by 21% during this period. Against that background there were greater increases in the number of students who are blind or partially sighted (37%), are deaf or have a hearing impairment (38%), or are wheelchair users or have mobility difficulties (50%). But the greatest changes were in students declaring dyslexia or mental health difficulties with 169% and 269% increases on five years earlier.

The category 'dyslexia' is sometimes used as a catch-all description for a range of specific learning difficulties. For a fuller description see What are specific learning difficulties? Both specific learning difficulties and mental health difficulties were probably under reported in the 1998-1999 figures, either due to a lack of understanding of the terms or to a reticence to disclose. There is still reluctance to disclose mental health difficulties.

Disabled people are under-represented in employment and disabled people are twice as likely to have no qualifications. The Disability Rights Commission estimates that one in twenty disabled people is in further education, compared with one in ten of the rest of the population. It is likely that the numbers of disabled students in higher education will continue to rise as institutions are required to develop disability equality schemes in line with recent legislation.