Ms Megan O'Connor:

The design of the courses that we offer is incredibly important. If a student has a long-term chronic illness, a part-time course will be much more accessible to him or her than a full-time course that requires the student's presence on campus. We have already touched on the need for the universal design for learning. If we really reach where we need to be on that, some students may not need to access additional disability services supports. Setting up the system to be accessible at the first point of contact is the ultimate goal.

There is a huge drop-off in postgraduate study. We have seen a fantastic increase in students getting into levels 5 to 8, inclusive, but that immediately drops off after level 8. We have nothing that replicates the likes of the HEAR and DARE schemes for further studies in the postgraduate area. That is a major issue that we will need to tackle to ensure that completing a PhD is not an unachievable task for a student with a disability and that students can access them. If we have learned anything in the past two years, it is that we can be more flexible and provide those students with the services they need.