OU disabled students respond to proposed welfare reforms

This month (June 2025), Open SU ran three focus groups with members of our Disabled Students Group. Students gathered online to share personal accounts, and contributed towards a response submitted to government this week (w/c 23 June) on the drastic changes proposed regarding welfare provision for people with disabilities and health conditions. 

As the welfare bill hangs in the balance, it seems the best time to share the steps that Open SU has taken to ensure the voice of disabled students at the OU are heard in Westminster.* 

In our response, delivered to government this week (w/c 23 June), we have urged government to show respect for those currently eligible for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), and we've warned about the knock-on effect of denying this level of support to households. 

Our submission included an introduction from Open SU’s President, Natalie Baker:

Here at Open SU we support all OU students, and we regularly hear from our disabled students about the difficulties they already face within the benefit system. It is concerning to us that there is no mention of the role of education in these proposals. Education can be transformative and open new avenues to work for disabled people. We often hear from students who have wrongly had their benefits affected, or the incorrect assumption has been made that being able to study automatically means that they can work. The reform that is needed to make the benefit system work requires a multi-agency approach, and with public services already stretched to breaking point, there is a real concern that we will see our disabled students pushed out of education. This in turn will limit their work choices and opportunities.

One key theme that has come out of our conversations with disabled students is trust. There is currently little to no trust in the system based on the current inefficiencies and contradictions in how decisions are made when awarding benefits. Pushing ahead with these changes will be detrimental to our disabled students and their families/ support systems. The assumptions and ableist language within the green paper is concerning to our members that, even with a new system, very little will change in how they are treated. We urge the government to reevaluate these proposals and to take a person-centred collaborative approach to reform with disabled people in the room from the start.

The Open University (OU) is the largest provider of access to Higher Education to disabled people in the UK. 38,991 students declaring a disability studied with the OU in 2023/24. As Open SU is the representative body for those students, we feel it is important that we provide a voice to these students who regularly access the benefit system and are concerned about these proposals.

The perspectives shared by focus group attendees included anecdotes of disappointment and discrimination. Some were deeply disappointed with their experience of being assessed for eligibility for PIP, and the health element of Universal Credit. The consensus was intense concern over the proposals to make the eligibility criteria increasingly draconian when it came to PIP, meaning that hundreds of thousands of claimants will no longer be eligible. 

Our members expressed that introducing such significant cuts, particularly when other services such as care provision and mental health support are bursting at the seams, was a ludicrous proposition. It was felt that the changes were ill-advised and would result in increased poverty levels. 

Unsurprisingly, our focus groups were highly emotive but members of the Disabled Students Group remained resilient, and committed to not only sharing personal views and experiences but reflecting on the collective experience of those currently receiving PIP, who may be denied this essential means of support in the future.
 

*At the time of writing, Keir Starmer has suggested that concessions are likely to be made ahead of the Commons vote on Tuesday (1 July).