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.
