Decision Report 201305897

Summary

Mrs C complained on behalf of her daughter (Miss A) who was a student at the college. Miss A has a complex communication disability which affects her written and oral language skills. However, her IQ and potential to learn is the same as other students. The college supported Miss A with a number of adaptations designed to help her complete her studies. However, after progressing to a higher level of study, Miss A's academic performance dropped. Mrs C believed that the level of support provided by the college was no longer adequate and sought additional adaptations for Miss A. Whilst the college considered her request, they declined to introduce all of the supports that Mrs C felt were necessary for her daughter to demonstrate her full potential.

We found that the college had taken Miss A's condition seriously and had introduced a schedule of adaptations at the beginning of her studies, based on independent medical advice. Regular review meetings were held with her, at which she confirmed that she was happy with the support that was in place. Following Mrs C's complaint, there was evidence of the college looking into the provision of further adaptations and some were implemented. However, there was a lack of clear evidence of discussions that were reportedly held with third parties and which influenced the decisions not to provide some of the requested support. Whilst we were generally satisfied that the college had acted reasonably, we felt that they could have been more transparent and could have included Miss A more in discussions about her support package.

Recommendations

We recommended that the college:

• offer Miss A an urgent review of her support needs with specific regard to the rewording of assessments and share with her any input from outside agencies.