University Offer Refused Due to my Spoken Communication

I’ll preface this by saying this is not legal advice I am not a lawyer qualified to give you legal advice. I am just a nerd on the Internet who has  researched a lot of law.

What do you describe sounds like it could be discrimination arising from disability (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/15) I wouldn’t worry too much about getting the complaint perfect. I am sceptical about whether the complaint will change anybody’s mind but making it will allow you to move onto the next stage. unfortunately the next stage is threatening to sue.

in practice it’s often after starting a lawsuit that actual serious negotiations start. BeFor you totally freak out please be aware it’s quite often possible to have these cases addressed on the small claims track which is designed to work without lawyers if you can’t afford them.

so if you do Lodge a lawsuit your complaint will have to assert that a list of conditions is satisfied that means a law has been broken. Your complaint to the University should probably be structured in the same way. you want to show them the ingredients of discrimination arising from disability have been satisfied.

broadly that would be:

• you are a disabled person
• they knew you were a disabled person
• they did something unfavourable to you because of something
• that something was a consequence of your disability
• The unfavourable action is not  justified objectively

in order for unfavourable action to be objectively justified it must satisfy the 4 following conditions

• it must be in pursuit of something legitimate
• The action taken must be rationally concerned to the legitimate  aim
• The action taken must be no more unfavourable than necessary to achieve the aim.
• The unfavourable consequences must be outweighed by the benefits.

Strictly speaking for section 15 it’s not legally necessary for you to say what they could’ve done differently in terms of making reasonable adjustments that would’ve helped you attend without it causing an issue.

 however it’s often helpful because it powerfully illustrates the objective justification test isn’t met.

now it sounds like they were concerned you would have issues in group sessions. Perhaps they thought you had a tendency to unreasonably dominate the conversation or to respond rudely to people or in a way that  might be seen as rude or that you would go off on long tangents. Most of these issues could be addressed by having a facilitator for the group sessions   who was used to dealing with you, also adding additional time for group sessions  is also an option

Strictly speaking for section 15 it’s not legally necessary for you to say what they could’ve done differently in terms of making reasonable adjustments that would’ve helped you attend without it causing an issue.

 however it’s often helpful because it powerfully illustrates the objective justification test isn’t met.

now it sounds like they were concerned you would have issues in group sessions. Perhaps they thought you had a tendency to unreasonably dominate the conversation or to respond rudely to people or in a way that  might be seen as rude or that you would go off on long tangents. Most of these issues could be addressed by having a facilitator for the group sessions   who was used to dealing with you, also adding additional time for group sessions  is also an option

This is exactly the case, I do have a huge amount of professional proof of my teaching abilities and also my spoken communication, so this should be easy to prove if necessary 

I don't have any other options as I'm a single mum and can't travel away for university. I am also a current lecturer at university, who have written to Exeter with a letter of support as an excellent teacher and a local college, with over 20 recommendations highlighting my teaching ability and communication on linked in, so I do have a lot of proof

Yes they observed me and I scored exceptional for my spoken communication when I had to perform a mini teach including interacting with my "students" and not as strong as others in the group interview. I've lodged a formal complaint after speaking to a Sen solicitor who looked at the case and said this is a blatant disregard of the Equality act. Natasha Richardson is a teacher with tourettes and has no issues being a teacher

Yes they observed me and I scored exceptional for my spoken communication when I had to perform a mini teach including interacting with my "students" and not as strong as others in the group interview. I've lodged a formal complaint after speaking to a Sen solicitor who looked at the case and said this is a blatant disregard of the Equality act

The thing is and what I don’t think many people would appreciate is it autistic people often do not feel comfortable moving away to study or work. And of course sometimes people have families children wives people who may be dependent on them who may not want to move.

if that’s his situation then this university might be his only option.

Actually I agree. At least for humanity’s subjects like English / teaching. If it were a STEM course I’d think otherwise.

Peter - you may be right in terms of the law. My point is that it may be possible to force a university to register a student. The problem is that teaching involves subjective assessments of competence. If the assessor does not like the student's presentation and writes it up negatively, it is hard to argue. The Tribunal judge was not there, and the assessor says the presentation was not good enough, how do you prove otherwise on the balance of probabilities?

In purely pragmatic terms, I feel it might be better to find a university that is more neurodiversity aware. I have been in a situation where I have had a "marginal" student, and to be honest, I could have written my report up either a pass or a fail, and the university would accept my recommendation. All the Exam Board has is the assessor's report.

The way it’s been phrased makes it sound more like a fitness to learn than a fitness to teach concern. But even if it is a fitness to teach concern it’s quite difficult for them to make that argument if he is already teaching in a college adequately.

i’m no expert in ‘fitness to teach’ in regards to health but I did look up the relevant regulations and it talks about your ability to do the relevant activity not necessarily to do it to a high standard. so If the relevant activity would be teaching a lesson. And A hypothetical individual is already teaching adequately at a college I think they would have demonstrated they can teach a lesson whether or not they’re doing it to a high standard.

Not that that’s legal advice of course just an interesting aside about some reading I did today.

There are special provisions for university courses which lead to regulated professional qualifications. If a particular skill is deemed "core" to the job, it is permissible to discriminate. As an extreme example, I don't think anyone would want to be operated on by a brain surgeon with Parkinson's. This is a case where fine motor skills would be an absolute prerequisite.  If a particular skill - in this case communication - is listed as a core competence, it may be justified to require all students to meet the standard, irrespective of any extenuating disability. The rules are strict, and it is up to the university to justify its requirements by reference to the "fitness to practise" requirements of the regulator and the aims of the course in each instance.

Ah yes good point, yes sorry I know you didn't I often come across as defensive when trying to prove a point. Thank you appreciate your insight

I really don’t know I doubt it unless you’re in some sort of union that maybe offers you free legal advice. My old union offered me free legal advice even if the advice was about something that happened outside of work like for example applying for another job. As far as I’m aware Nas doesn’t really support student applications into university. Anyone who knows better please correct me if I’m wrong.

i’m not accusing you of being a bad teacher far from it. i’m simply saying when you’re constructing a legal argument it’s often easier to argue that whatever impediment they think you have could be overcome than to argue but the impediment wouldn’t affect the situation as they assume although that is also a valid route of argument.

in law you often make ‘but if it did’ arguments. I don’t believe my disability impairs my ability to do X, but if it did here are three ways to help me do X.

that kind of thing.

After an interview day, one on one interview, a mini teach which they gave me excellent feedback on and a group task, I am also a mature student, so probably did come across as more confident than some of the others, but I would not say I was dominant if anything I was exceptionally nervous, and possibly chatted a bit to much in the one to one interview, but did pause several times to pull myself up and said would you like me to continue. 

Could you clarify how the university came to their decision? Was it just from seeing your application, or was it after an interview and/or aptitude tests or simulations where they heard you interact with others orally?

Yes I do have a tendency to be quite blunt which some people do see as rude, but I have never had this as an issue in the classroom, plus I also mentor groups of students monthly and the university would not allow this if I was not able, even my LinkedIn recommendations I have about 20 state how good I am at teaching and communication. Sorry I realise this sounds defensive and I appreciate your help. I'm just so frustrated. I will look at the legislation you have sent. Do you know if there is a service I could speak to someone from here or another autism society that could help me?