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Taking an anticipatory approach to inclusive education

Published on: 18/06/2025 · Last updated on: 18/06/2025

What does an anticipatory approach mean

Under the Equality Act 2010, Universities have an anticipatory duty to make reasonable adjustments to education for students with disabilities. An anticipatory approach means proactively considering likely barriers to learning for such students and what reasonable adjustments can be put in place in advance to address these, as well as having processes in place to support further individual adjustments where required (e.g. Disability Action Plans).

What anticipatory actions can I take?

The following five actions are particularly impactful as they support commonly encountered needs across a multitude of disabilities, specific learning difficulties, or long-term health conditions. Anticipatory action in these areas is therefore a good place to start when ensuring the learning environment is built around student needs. Click the titles below to see how each action supports different needs.

Providing accessible materials in advance can benefit students in a wide range of ways. Consider what core materials can be provided at an early point (e.g. reading lists, assessment maps), and where material related to individual sessions (e.g. lecture slides, overview, or key content) could be provided in advance (ideally at least 24 hours beforehand).

Why does this help so many students?

Autism, Anxiety: Reduces uncertainly and cognitive load.

Dyslexia, ADHD: Provides opportunity to pre-annotate and pace information-processing.

Visual impairment: Gives time to run materials through a screen-reader, enlarge it or convert to Braille.

Deaf, Hard-of-hearing: Opportunity to preview terminology that may be hard to lip-read.

Chronic illness or fatigue: Enhances ability to plan study around health fluctuations.

Offering students multiple ways to catch-up or re-watch live sessions can include providing full lecture capture, sharing audio-only recordings, or a short (<10 minute) summary video and transcript. Providing session notes or annotated slides in advance can also be beneficial in tandem with a recording, or where recording is not appropriate.

Why does this help so many students?

Mental health, mobility: Opportunity to catch-up when unable to attend.

ADHD, SpLD: Allows pause/rewind for note-taking and focus breaks.

Deaf, Hard-of-hearing, English as a second language: Can use captions and watch back at a suitable speed.

All students: Provides a revision tool that boosts attainment.

Ensuring learning materials are accessible before they are released ensures all students are able to benefit from them without encountering further barriers to their engagement and learning support. Visit the Digital Accessibility page to find out more about how you can make a start with providing accessible materials, including features for different document formats, providing captioning and transcripts for your recordings, and making your Moodle spaces accessible to all users. There are a range of tools available to help you check the accessibility of your materials.

Why does this help so many students?

Deaf, Hard-of-hearing: Captions and transcripts turn audio-only information into text, making it comprehensible and searchable.

Visual impairment: Screen-reader friendly text to explain visual content (e.g. images, tables, diagrams) and attention to use of colours and contrast all aid accessibility.

All students: Captions and transcripts help when audio can’t be played or heard, and lightweight PDFs help those with bandwidth issues.

There are many ways in which to support students through the way information is structured. These may include ‘chunking’ lecture delivery, signposting learning outcomes, using headings and chapter markers in learning materials, providing recap opportunities in subsequent sessions, as well as using a consistent Moodle template across the course.

Why does this help so many students?

Autism, Anxiety: Clear and/or predictable sequencing lowers stress.

ADHD, cognitive access: Provides easier navigation of content and aids working memory.

SpLD, English as a second language: Explicit organisation supports comprehension.

Anticipatory approaches include publishing marking criteria in advance, providing model answers, ensuring assessment rubrics are written in plain language, releasing assessment briefs well in advance. Building in appropriate student agency, e.g. choice of topic or presentation format, can also be beneficial.

Why does this help so many students?

Mental health, Anxiety: Knowing expectations in advance reduces uncertainty; agency lower performance pressure.

Autism, sensory processing: Clear, literal criteria and consistent rubrics remove hidden rules; predictable timelines support routine.

ADHD, cognitive access: Advance information enables earlier planning; clear rubrics act as checklists to stay on task; agency allows opportunity to pick an assessment question that matches cognitive strengths.

Dyslexia, SpLD: Plain language assessment briefs and model answers reduce decoding load.

Visual impairment: Early access to digital assessment briefs provides time for screen-reader or Braille conversion; clarity around required visual elements allows advance planning of alt-text or tactile graphics.

Find out more

If you’re interested in finding out more, read our support for students with disabilities page to help you as you plan and delivery your teaching.

For further guidance on supporting specific needs of students with DAPs, staff are encouraged to contact Disability Services.

The University is committed to supporting the diverse needs of all learners, including students with disabilities, long-term health conditions, and specific learning difficulties. The University’s Inclusive Education Project sharepoint site contains up to date information on the future development of inclusive approaches at Bath.

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