Unlawful discrimination examples
1.1 Disability
Direct discrimination
Example 1
A school finds out that a pupil has been diagnosed as autistic and immediately excludes him from the school play as they suspect he will ‘not be able to cope’ . This is likely to be unlawful direct disability discrimination.
Example 2
A school plans a trip to a natural history museum. A pupil with Down’s syndrome is excluded from the trip as the school believes she will not be able to participate in the activities provided by the museum for school groups. This is likely to be unlawful direct disability discrimination.
Example 3
The admissions tutor for an independent school interviews an applicant who has cerebral palsy which makes her speech unclear. The tutor assumes that the applicant also has learning difficulties and refuses to admit her as he thinks she will be unable to cope with the highly academic environment of the school. This is likely to be unlawful discrimination arising from disability.
Indirect discrimination
Example 1
A pupil with cerebral palsy who is a wheelchair user is told she will be unable to attend a school trip to a local theatre putting on a production of a play she is currently studying in English, because the building is not wheelchair accessible. The pupil and her parents are aware that the play is also on at a theatre in a neighbouring city which is accessible but the school does not investigate this option. This is likely to be direct discrimination because of a disability.
Examples of failure to make reasonable adjustments
A deaf pupil who lip-reads is at a substantial disadvantage because teachers continue speaking while facing away from him to write on the board.
A pupil with dyslexia is told she cannot have her teacher’s lesson notes, and that she should take notes during lessons 'like everyone else'.
Read more information on disability discrimination