Disabled staff in UK universities are delivering the message that inclusion is still too often an aspiration rather than a lived reality.
The higher education website WONKHE reported that early findings from the first National Disabled Staff Survey (NDSS), completed by 837 disabled staff across 127 institutions in 2025, expose deep structural barriers that undermine wellbeing, career progression, and retention.
It added that RIDE Higher, a new initiative emerging from the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN), has led the research to ensure that disabled staff voices shape understanding and action across the sector.
WONKHE said the work comes at a pivotal moment, with the launch of Advance HE’s Inclusive Institutions Framework alongside the NDSS giving universities a coherent structure for embedding inclusion across their organisations.
It added that the developments represent a rare alignment of evidence, lived experience, and institutional infrastructure. They also reveal the gap between intentions and outcomes, and signal what must now change.
WONKHE reported that “some 44% of respondents have considered leaving their job because of poor disability inclusion, most within the past year and nearly one‑third say disability has negatively influenced how colleagues perceive their career potential.”
It adds that across 120 institutions, staff report fragmented support services and unclear processes, and in 121, respondents rated their university’s responsibility for providing an inclusive working environment as poor.
WONKHE said providers need to make accessibility the default. Disabled staff should not have to fight for adjustments or repeatedly navigate opaque systems.
It reported: “Accessibility must be embedded into HR processes, digital infrastructure, events, and estates management. Proactive inclusive design is cheaper, fairer, and more efficient than retrofitting.
“There is a need to strengthen leadership and accountability. Many respondents did not know who held responsibility for disability inclusion. Universities should identify clear institutional leads, publish transparent support pathways, and track progress against measurable indicators, just as they do in other strategic areas.
“We need to join up support for staff and students. The stark disparity between staff and student support signals a cultural problem.”