Further Education

Autism Provisions, Further and Higher Education Survey

Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils in partnership with NHS forth Valley, Service User and Carer representatives and Third Sector Organisations are developing a ten-year plan Autism Strategy, which aims to improve services for people with autism, their families and carers living in Stirling and Clackmannanshire.


The effective development of the Autism Strategy is based on the sound appreciation of the level of support available to people with Autism across ages and level of needs. To this end, the strategy has conducted a range of surveys sent to organisations and services providers.


This “Autism Provision, Further and Higher Education” survey is about the level of support in place in Further Education. The survey was conducted in March 2015.


What we asked:

  • Does the University/College offer course(s) specifically geared to people with an Autism Spectrum
    Condition (ASC) or Asperger’s Syndrome (AS)?
  • Do you accept students with ASC/ AS on your mainstream university/college courses?
  • What type of support is provided to people with ASD?
    • support to transition to the course
    • support to attend lectures
    • support for their homework
    • Provide access to a break-out room specifically assigned to people with ASC /AS to help them cope with any stress they may be experiencing whilst at University/College?
    • Provide a specific tutor who can contact if required
    • Whether there is any additional support your organisation would benefit from to better support people with ASD

      You can access the questionnaire sent to colleges and universities here

What we learned:

We contacted 27 different universities and colleges, and received answers for 20 of them, though only 17 were complete. The Universities/Colleges we contacted are listed here, we include the contacts if you wish to make a direct query regarding a potential placement for a student with ASD:

Further Education Responses Contact
City of Glasgow College  Online dianne.gallacher@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk
Edinburgh College Online john.mccran@edinburghcollege.ac.uk
Fife College  Phone anonascott@fife.ac.uk
Forth Valley College Online learningdevelopment@forthvalley.ac.uk
Glasgow University   disability@glasgow.ac.uk 
Glasgow Caledonian University   Online disability@gcu.ac.uk
Glasgow Clyde College    info@glasgowclyde.ac.uk
Glasgow Kelvin College  Phone jmiller@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk
Glasgow School of Art   learningsupport@gsa.ac.uk
Heriot-Watt Online disability@hw.ac.uk
Leith School of Art Phone enquiries@leithschoolofart.co.uk
New College Lanarkshire   info@nclan.ac.uk
Scotland’s Rural College Oatridge Campus (Five)   janet.lingard@sruc.ac.uk
Open University Online Scotland@open.ac.uk
Perth College Online Gerald.McLaughlin@perth.uhi.ac.uk
Queen Margaret University   disabilityadvisers@qmu.ac.uk
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Online j.balmforth@rcs.ac.uk
Scotland’s Rural College (Five) Online alison.boyle@sruc.ac.uk
South Lanarkshire College   noreen.gallagher@slc.ac.uk
Stirling University Online studentadvice.disability@stir.ac.uk
Strathclyde University Phone disabilityservice@strath.ac.uk
The University of Edinburgh  Online melanie.scott@ed.ac.uk
The University of St Andrews   Online theasc@st-andrews.ac.uk
University of the West of Scotland   disabilityservice@uws.ac.uk
University of Highlands and Islands    
West College Scotland   els@wcs.ac.uk
West Lothian College Online mfarnham@west-lothian.ac.uk sent

 

All placements accept students with ASD, 70% of them provide support. The nature of the support provided is shown in the graph below.

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