Review of students with disabilities at the UOC to improve support and reaffirm our commitment to inclusion

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is one of the most inclusive universities in Spain for students with disabilities. The university, which has seen a fourfold increase in the number of students with disabilities over the past 15 years, is now home to 50% of all such students in Catalonia and is the second university with the highest number of students with disabilities in Spain, surpassed only by the Spanish National University of Distance Education (UNED). To gain a better understanding of who these students are, it has drawn up the report Support for diversity and inclusion at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (in Catalan), based on a study carried out as part of the new action plan to improve the inclusion of students with disabilities. The results were obtained in a survey of 579 students with disabilities (24% of the total).

The UOC's Vice Rector for Teaching and Learning, Teresa Guasch, said that "inclusion is one of the main pillars" of the UOC's educational model. She noted that the study "provides a clear picture of our students with disabilities and helps us make evidence-based decisions, taking their opinions into account to pinpoint both our strengths and those areas where we must do better". Guasch said that the UOC is "firmly" committed to this matter and will continue to "strive to ensure an accessible, equitable and quality educational experience for all".

As part of the review of students with disabilities, data on their degree of satisfaction with the support available at the UOC were also collected. Some 38% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied, while 25% reported low or very low satisfaction. The remaining 37% were undecided. Almost half of the respondents (46%) would recommend the UOC to other people with disabilities, 40% would consider doing so, and only 14% would definitely not recommend it. Their positive experiences related to empathetic support, and the UOC's commitment to inclusion was specifically mentioned.

The study, which concludes that students with disabilities are generally satisfied with their experience at the UOC, also sets out proposals for actions to address areas for improvement and the challenges still facing the university.

What are the students with disabilities at the UOC like?

The data show that the profile of students with disabilities at the UOC is similar to that of its general student body. However, they are older students, and the female majority (60%) gradually shrinks until women are overtaken by men in the group of over-65s. The average age is 41 years old, 91% are over 25 years old, and a large majority (78%) have a previous university degree. More than half of them (58%) are in paid employment, and 40% are in full-time employment. The data reveal that 19% have an officially recognized status as temporarily or permanently incapacitated for work.

According to the survey, almost half of all students with disabilities (49%) take two or three courses per semester, and 63% spend up to 20 hours per week on their studies. Although they enrol at the UOC for a variety of reasons, the most reported ones were the flexibility of the learning model (65%), asynchronous study (11%) and the emphasis on continuous assessment (10%). The UOC's diversity support policy, on the other hand, did not play a significant role (3%).

Julio Meneses, full professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and Analysis of Learning and Teaching director at the eLinC, said in relation to these data that "students with disabilities place great value on the UOC's learning model, as it offers flexibility in their academic work tailored to their needs and enables them to study wherever they are". He stressed that "this, which is seen as an advantage by the student body in general, is even more valuable for those living with disabilities, as the changing nature of many of their circumstances can cause their specific educational support needs to evolve over the course of their studies".

What disabilities do UOC students have?

As for their disabilities, the report shows that the vast majority of these students have a certified disability and a quarter of them have more than one. In 89% of cases they have official recognition of their disability, and 27% have multiple disabilities (two or more). As for the types of disability involved, the most common are chronic illnesses (34%), developmental disorders (such as ADHD, dyslexia or ASD (28%)), motor disabilities (26%) and mental health disorders (20%). Cases of multiple disabilities most commonly involve combinations of chronic illnesses, motor disabilities and developmental disorders.

The majority of students with disabilities inform the UOC of their situation at some point (89%), mainly during pre-enrolment (39%) or enrolment (67%), in order to obtain appropriate support. A total of 31% inform the UOC during the course of teaching, and 27% do so when it is time for the final tests. It is also very common (48% of cases) to inform the UOC more than once. Only 14% of students with disabilities never mention them to the UOC, for reasons including not wanting or needing to do so (58%), not knowing that it is possible or how to do it (42%), and thinking that it won't be useful (30%).

High satisfaction with the UOC's support

Students expressed satisfaction with the adaptations made by the UOC in their studies, although the survey suggests that there is little awareness of their availability. The adaptations provided usually involve extra time for final or continuous assessment tests and additional teaching or tutorial support. Of those who responded to the survey, 55% were unaware that such measures were available and only 26% had asked for any. From among the students who had requested adaptations, almost half (49%) were highly or very highly satisfied, while 31% reported low or very low satisfaction.

Areas for improvement and action plan to solidify inclusion

The study has identified the main barriers encountered by students with disabilities at the UOC. In terms of accessibility, 51% said that they had not encountered any problems in any virtual spaces, but 49% had. Most issues involved the UOC Library, the external website and the help service. The personal area and the classrooms, on the other hand, caused the fewest problems. In terms of following their courses, the most common difficulties were the time available and the clarity of questions and instructions. These issues can have academic consequences for students: results show that 12% had to drop out of one or more courses, 8% had to temporarily interrupt their studies, and 2% had to swap to a different programme. To address all these issues, 20% of students used assistive technology, physical devices (such as hearing aids, Braille devices or adapted chairs) or software (such as text-to-voice or dictation tools).

Positive assessment of the findings

The Vice Rector for Teaching and Learning's delegate for inclusive teaching and learning, Carles Sigalés, welcomed the findings, as "they show that, despite the challenges they face, a large proportion of students with disabilities have a positive experience at the UOC". According to Sigalés, "the combination of our flexible model and personalized support is key to ensuring equal opportunities and true inclusion at the UOC".