Repeat disability adjustment evidence requirements

Short answer

In most cases you should not have to reapply from scratch or produce fresh medical evidence every academic year for the same disability adjustments, particularly where your condition is long term or permanent. The main exception is where your condition genuinely fluctuates or changes, or where the adjustment relates to a specific assessment. What follows explains the legal framework, the good practice position, and where an annual step can legitimately be required.

The legal framework in England and Wales

If you are studying at a university or other post-16 education provider, the relevant law is the Equality Act 2010. Under sections 91 to 96 and Schedule 13, the responsible body of a further or higher education institution owes a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students. This is an anticipatory and continuing duty. It is not a one-off obligation that expires at the end of each year and has to be re-triggered by a fresh application.

To be entitled to adjustments you must meet the Act’s definition of disability in section 6: a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. “Long-term” generally means it has lasted or is likely to last at least 12 months, or for the rest of your life. Where your impairment clearly meets that threshold and is stable, there is little logical basis for the provider to require you to re-prove the same disability annually.

Good practice on annual reapplication

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator, whose Good Practice Framework is the leading authoritative guidance for higher education in England and Wales, addresses this point directly. It states that providers should keep adjustments under review and should encourage you to report any change in your condition or any shortfall in support so they can act on it. Crucially, it also says that it is not good practice to insist that a student reapplies for the same adjustments every year unless their condition is likely to fluctuate.

So the expected position is:

1. If your disability and needs are stable, the adjustments recorded on your support plan or learning agreement should carry over between years and simply be kept under review.

2. If your condition is variable or episodic, the provider can reasonably check in periodically to confirm what support is currently appropriate, because the adjustments themselves may need to change.

When fresh evidence can legitimately be required

There are situations where being asked for updated information is reasonable rather than obstructive:

Where your condition fluctuates or is expected to change, so that the appropriate adjustments may differ from year to year.

Where you are requesting new or different adjustments, as opposed to continuing existing ones.

Where the adjustment relates to a specific assessment or examination and the provider operates a per-assessment or per-year confirmation process, for example extra time in exams that must be arranged each exam period.

Where your original evidence was time-limited on its face, or where a considerable period has passed and the provider reasonably needs to confirm current needs.

Where support funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance is involved, the funding side has its own processes. DSA is generally awarded for the duration of your course rather than reapplied for annually, but you can be asked to provide updated evidence if your needs change, and some providers or assessors review support arrangements periodically. The medical or diagnostic evidence you supplied for a permanent condition should not normally need to be re-obtained each year.

Competence standards

One important limit to keep in mind. The reasonable adjustments duty does not require a provider to lower or adjust a genuine competence standard, meaning an academic or professional standard that everyone must meet to demonstrate a particular level of competence. It can, however, be required to adjust the way a competence standard is assessed. This does not usually affect year-to-year continuity of adjustments, but it explains why some requests are refused even where a disability is accepted.

Practical next steps

1. Check your existing support plan, learning support agreement, or reasonable adjustments record and see whether it states an end date or a review point. Many are written to last for the whole programme.

2. Ask the disability or student support service, in writing, to confirm that your agreed adjustments will roll forward for the coming year and to explain the basis for any request to reapply or re-evidence.

3. If your condition is long term and stable, point out politely that the OIA Good Practice Framework advises against insisting on annual reapplication for the same adjustments unless the condition fluctuates, and ask them to reconsider any blanket requirement.

4. Keep copies of your diagnostic report, previous adjustment agreements and any correspondence, so you are not repeatedly obtaining new evidence for a settled condition.

5. If the provider maintains an unreasonable annual reapplication requirement, use its internal complaints procedure. If that does not resolve matters and you have a Completion of Procedures letter, you can bring the complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. Separately, a failure to make reasonable adjustments can be pursued as disability discrimination, which for education claims in England and Wales is generally brought in the County Court under the Equality Act, subject to time limits, though the internal and OIA routes are usually the sensible first steps.

Where the answer could change

The position depends on some facts you have not given. It matters whether you are in higher education, further education, an apprenticeship, or a school sixth form, because the responsible body and the applicable framework differ. It also matters whether your condition is stable or fluctuating, whether you are asking to continue existing adjustments or seeking new ones, whether the adjustment is exam-specific, and whether DSA funding rather than provider adjustments is what you mean. If you tell me the type of institution and the type of adjustment involved, I can give a more precise answer.