Support for people with a disability
We use ability testing to shortlist our applicants for interview. This has been an effective way to discriminate between people within one of our competency standards - i.e. to show up differences where these are real. What they should not do is discriminate unfairly. The test provider has extensively baselined the tests we use to ensure that through the use of additional time, people with disabilities such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyscalculia are not disadvantaged. Through our tracking of annual performance statistics, we monitor what adjustments are reasonable with the aim of ensuring fairness for all applicants, disabled or not.
Declaring a disability
We do not read application forms at Lancaster so any information you may put in statements in this form will not be seen by us.
If you have a disability and would like to explore reasonable adjustments to our process, you MUST contact us via dclinpsyadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk as soon as possible following submission of your application. Ensure you quote your Clearing House application ID, details of your disability and how this will impact on you taking an online test, and provide any diagnostic reports which detail a suggested reasonable adjustment if you have them.We will then consider what reasonable adjustments if any are needed. This information will be retained if you are invited to interview. If you have physical access needs for interview, you can contact us following invitation to interview and we can ensure these are supported.
About screening test adjustments
We may make a time adjustment of up to 20% following a declaration of a disability which we deem would unduly impact on the candidate's ability to perform in the test. An adjustment is our assessment of an appropriate mitigation for the difficulties we would expect given our expertise in the equitable delivery of the test. We will consider any diagnostic evidence or reports from a chartered psychologist where available but it is our responsibility to decide on what is reasonable. We will not apply arbitrary adjustments which would impact on the fairness of the shortlisting process for other applicants.
Where a disability impacts an applicant's ability to interact with the shortlisting tests via a computer, we will assess their requirements on a case-by-case basis.
Understanding reasonable adjustments
The shortlisting test and the activities undertaken at interview assess competency standards for the job role, reflecting the regulatory requirements of the HCPC and BPS, and the requirements of the QAA code. These standards have been formulated by the programme as experts in the delivery of education in clinical psychology.
While reasonable adjustments can be made to a competency standard, the university is not required by the Equality Act to do so. It is the responsibility of the institution to ensure that where adjustments are made, the assessment continues to effectively assess the competency standard for which it was designed. For example, it is not reasonable to provide so much extra time that we can no longer assess the ability to work under significant time pressure and the Equality Act does not require this to happen.
It is our role to assess and decide on what is a reasonable adjustment given our expertise in the delivery of the tests, the requirements of the role, and the need to ensure fairness to all candidates. Adjustments can also be ‘baked in’ to provisions, criteria, or practices resulting in no adjustments being required. It should be noted that adjustments which are advantageous to a disabled individual are not unfavourable simply because they could have been more advantageous. Reasonable adjustments are made within a framework which has a legitimate aim of being fair to all applicants.
Our shortlisting process is demonstrating improvements in achieving increased diversity within our cohorts and greater participation in training by applicants with disabilities. We recognise the need for ongoing review and development and this forms part of our selections and admissions process.