Published on 12, July, 2020
Hey Guys, thanks in advance for listening. I've been refused a place on a secondary English PGCE Programme at a prestigious University because in their exact words:
One key area that we felt made our course not right for you relates to spoken communication. We felt that you would need to work on how you respond to and include others in group discussion activities, as well as maintaining focus spoken discussion.
They are aware that I have ASD and ADHD. I have asked them to reconsider and asked if as this was the only reason and they were again in their words aware that I had very many talents, could I complete a fitness to teach assessment as this is part of their policy. I'm already a lecturer at a local college and a guest lecturer at universities.
They have just emailed to say they will not reconsider and if I am unhappy I need to make a formal complaint.
Does anyone have any thoughts and is there anywhere I can approach to assist me in making a complaint as I struggle with forms?
Many thanks
Emma
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:
in order for unfavourable action to be objectively justified it must satisfy the 4 following conditions
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
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 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