Simple Summary

🔍 It is difficult to get accurate data on disability at Oxford. Official statistics do not give the whole story.

🔍 However, the number of people known to be neurodivergent at Oxford is growing.

🔍 Some neurodivergent people may not feel comfortable disclosing that they are neurodivergent.

Data on disability can be difficult to collect and assess, and the data available for this toolkit depends on a number of different agencies. Direct comparison between some categories, therefore, is not always possible. Trends can still be observed, however, leading to a clear picture of why this toolkit is needed.

Increasing Needs for Support

The Disability Advisory Service (DAS) annual report 2023/24 noted a huge increase in disabled student registrations, and a change in how student support was organised. The average number of students per disability advisor had risen from 548 in 2018/19 to 835 in 2022/23; overall registration numbers continue to grow. In DAS categorisations, neurodivergent conditions will fall under “social / communication impairment” or “specific learning difficulty” (SpLD).

Both categories roughly doubled over this time period (141 in 2017/18 to 325 in 2023/24 for social / communication impairment, and 1091-1955 for SpLD). This is partly as a result of more students seeking and receiving diagnoses and then support and partly due to the increasing diversification of the student body. There is also increasing societal awareness about neurodiversity and diagnostic criteria that lead people to access DAS resources and support.

Many disabled students were not disclosing their disabilities at application, and both DAS and outreach schemes have worked hard to support students in feeling comfortable in making a disclosure. The 2022/23 annual report demonstrates that Oxford’s on-course disclosure levels are much higher than the HESA (Higher Education Student Statistics) average (c.18% in 2020/21), and that the gap is growing; we are now at a position where 23.3% of on-course students (which includes postgraduates, and so is not directly comparable with HESA data) are registered with DAS.

Progress in Supporting Disabled Students

Progress has been made, but along with the closure of the Office for Fair Access and its agreements, the University has changed its access and participation plan targets to consider the whole student lifecycle, especially progress on course. The current target for 2028/29 is for 94% of disabled students to achieve a good degree, which is classified as a 2:1 or a 1st class degree. If this is going to be achieved, then supporting neurodivergent students to flourish is essential; in Oxford terms, this also means supporting postgraduate students, who then go on to be postdocs, research, and teaching staff. The whole academic lifecycle needs to be considered, not just the student lifecycle.

Reflections on the collegial system

Our student participants reported that the support available to neurodivergent students can vary across the University, particularly at the undergraduate level, due to the collegiate structure and the autonomous governance of individual colleges. These divergences may relate to differences in welfare provision, the presence or absence of embedded academic support staff (such as study skills tutors), and the level of advocacy from student common rooms – Junior Common Room (JRC), Middle Common Room (MCR), Graduate Common Room (GCR) – for disabled and neurodivergent peers. Additionally, as colleges independently organise teaching and formative assessment, students studying the same course may have different academic experiences across colleges.

This toolkit has been designed for university-wide use, with tailored suggestions for different teaching contexts, including tutorials, seminars, lecturers, supervisions, and labs. We recognise that the devolved nature of the University means that not all staff have access to the same training and resources, depending on their employment context. Nonetheless, we hope this toolkit can serve as a shared starting point — supporting all colleges and departments to strengthen their provision for neurodivergent students within their local contexts, while fostering greater consistency and inclusivity across the University as a whole.

Further Resources

Sample DAS Student Support Plans (University of Oxford’s Single Sign-On (SSO) required to access)

SpLD (Specific Learning Difficulties), Taught sciences degree
SpLD(Specific Learning Difficulties), Research degree
Social & communication impairment, Research degree
Social & communication impairment, Taught degree