Students with Disabilities

You'll find information on how to enhance your employability through your academic life, work life and personal life in other sections of this website and information of general use at the Student Disability Service.

Recent years have seen increasing attention being paid to the needs and interests of disabled students and graduates. Disabled students study subjects in all areas of the British higher education curriculum and have been instrumental in helping to lower and remove barriers to equal opportunity right across education and employment.

Disabled Graduates: success in the job market

What happens to disabled graduates, compared to non-disabled graduates when they leave higher education?The AGCAS 'What Happens Next?' survey from 2006 shows that disabled graduates are increasingly able to compete successfully with non-disabled graduates. Notably, the gap between the percentage of disabled and non-disabled graduates entering full-time paid work on leaving higher education is getting smaller. According to the most recent survey in 2006, 50.3% of disabled graduates entered full-time paid work within six months of leaving higher education, compared with  54.7% of non-disabled graduates. 

Challenges

There can be significant challenges when making the transition to employment. You may be concerned about disclosing your disability to potential employers. Perhaps you have an unseen disability or feel that your disability will not have an impact on your ability to do the job. Like other students, you will need to develop sound personal judgements about the best career for you and how to present your capabilities to employers.  The University Careers Service can help: to arrange an appointment with a Careers Adviser at the University, visit the Careers Service webpages. The organisations listed in the links section on the left of this page may also be able be useful. Look at the Skill site for a clear and comprehensive discussion on disclosing disability when seeking employment.

Getting additional help

There are a number of specialist organisations that help disabled students find work placements, graduate jobs or set up their own business.  Employment Opportunities Glasgow is part of Employment Opportunities, the national charity dedicated to creating routes into employment for people with all disabilities and medical conditions.  EmployAbility is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to assisting people with all disabilities into employment. They have strong links with universities and can offer internship and placement scheme opportunities, make recommendations about disability inclusive employers, and give guidance, advice and support with CV and application form writing and how to perform well at interviews and assessment centres.