Improving access

Numbers of disabled students in higher education have increased by just over two thirds in five years, according to figures released this week by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. In total, 137,945 students declared a disability in 2005-06, up from 82,280 in 2000-01. The proportion of students with disabilities also rose over the same period, from 4.7 per cent of total student numbers to 6.9 per cent.