Finding the right university for Daniel

For any prospective university student, choosing the right course and place to study is a huge decision, and often unfamiliar territory for parents too. Most students have an idea of what they want to study based on interest or current A-level subjects. Choosing where to study is more challenging, with so many factors to consider such as ranking, grade requirements, location, and preferences (for example, the city life or a quieter area).

For Deaf students, the decision is more complex as there are additional considerations around student support and accessibility, particularly for students who need British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters and/or notetaking support. I thought it might be helpful to write a blog, not to recommend any one university for deaf students, but to share how we approached this and the lessons we learnt as we supported Daniel to find the university that suited him best.

For Daniel, another key consideration, was the range of social opportunities on offer for Deaf students. The social scene is very much part of the university experience, and one that we didn’t want Daniel to miss out on; we had seen how isolating he had found mainstream sixth form and did not want him to have a similar experience at university, particularly as he would be away from home and family support.

Our first step was to ask the Deaf community for their advice and recommendations as this gave us the benefit of their expertise and firsthand experience. I was blown away by the response to my Twitter request and the support that came from Deaf academics and those working in higher education. Several people generously gave their time to chat to Daniel on Zoom to pass on advice, which was so encouraging for him and helped immensely.

We knew it was important for Daniel to feel part of a community. Most of the universities we visited only had a small cohort of deaf students, with even fewer using BSL. Some had BSL societies or offered BSL as a student enrichment option for hearing students, so it’s worth asking about these at open days. Rather than just focusing on campus life, we sought out universities near large Deaf communities which could offer another social circle off campus. We found a map on the Signature website showing areas with the biggest density of BSL users (based on the 2021 census). It was this that led us to visit a university that previously we had not considered, which eventually became Daniel's preferred choice.

Access for open days

Universities are good at marketing and promoting what they have to offer, but we found that open days are the best way to get a feel for the overall atmosphere on campus and how they approach student support.

When completing the online booking form for each open day, Daniel stated that he needed a BSL interpreter as an access arrangement; how each university responded to the interpreter request proved to be a good indicator of their general attitude towards supporting Deaf students and definitely influenced Daniel’s choices for his UCAS application.

Whilst some were impressive, it was disappointing to encounter barriers even at this stage, such as not providing interpreters for pre-booked campus visits or a generic offering of BSL interpretation at just a handful of general presentations, rather than full access to all the information that prospective students need.

Therefore, a key lesson we learnt was that Daniel needed to be extremely specific about his access requirements, stating that interpreter access was required for all the activities he wanted, such as the course talk, general information presentations, campus tours, contact with their disability team, and so on.

Another thing we learnt was not to assume that requesting an interpreter on the booking form automatically triggers a response from the open day team. A few universities were great and responded after booking to confirm that an interpreter was arranged, but far too often we had to chase the request for access, sometimes not getting confirmation until the day before the event.

After this happened a few times, we got into the habit of emailing both the open day and disability teams of each university after booking an open day to explain what was needed. Interestingly, none of the universities that we had to chase for BSL access ended up on Daniel’s UCAS application, so if time and budget are limited, it may be best to prioritise the universities who are more proactive at arranging support for the open day.

Getting the most out of open days

Most of our open day visits involved travelling with the associated expense, so it was important to use our time wisely. Open days are busy and intensive with a limited time available to find out all you need about the university and what it can offer. Therefore, it’s useful to prepare a list of things you need to ask, and who you need to meet on the day, so you can prioritise your time. Most events include an information fayre, where you can meet staff from key departments in the same place, and we usually headed straight to these.

We recommend prioritising the following.

Course information

Attending talks or information stands is important to learn about what the course involves, how much contact time there is (for planning support), how students are assessed and the range of modules on offer. Daniel’s final UCAS choices were very much a balance between student support and the range of history modules on offer.

Disability support team

It’s essential to ask about the support they provide for Deaf students. This is usually funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), but it’s worth asking how they source interpreters, whether they provide in-house notetakers to save DSA funding, who will fund support if DSA runs out, and what student wellbeing services are available. Again, we had mixed experiences with these: some were highly informative, but shockingly one university had no representation from their disability support team.

Accommodation team

All the universities we visited had their own residences and would provide equipment such as visible, vibrating alarms, flashing doorbells, and so on. But it’s worth asking which residences can be adapted, whether there is a particular residence that Deaf students tend to use, what happens after the first year, and who will support students to get equipment if they move out to private rented accommodation.

Admissions

It’s useful to speak to admissions staff to ask about entry requirements and whether your child might be eligible for a contextual offer. Most offer a grade reduction for disadvantaged students. However, interestingly, most do not give contextual offers based on disability.

Student union and societies

If time allows, it’s worth visiting the student union to see what activities and support they offer and whether they have a BSL or deaf society or opportunities to socialise.

Taster lectures

Some universities offer taster lectures for individual subjects, and it seemed a good idea to attend a couple of these, but in hindsight, our time could have been put to better use as each took an hour out of the day. I would suggest that you only attend one if you have an hour to spare (and if using an interpreter, that they have materials in advance to prepare).

Other useful tips

Some other things we found useful were:

• Chatting to the interpreters. We learnt a lot about the university and local Deaf support and what is available in the nearby Deaf community by chatting to the interpreters during the day.
• Taking notes. Daniel kept a record of his visits, writing down the pros and cons of each university and his thoughts about each visit. This was useful as they do all merge into one after you’ve done a few!

Making a decision and next steps

Narrowing down the options for Daniel’s UCAS application seemed daunting at the start, but there were a couple we visited which felt right straight away. Most universities hold further offer holder days where students can find out more before making a firm choice.

After this, Daniel’s hard work starts to revise and achieve the required grades. It’s also important to apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance as soon as Student Finance applications open (usually end of March) so that support arrangements can be made.

As for us, we are using the next few months to help Daniel prepare for living independently away from home so that he will thrive in his chosen place of study.