Amongst the key findings are that:

• A majority of students with disabilities who participated had a positive experience of professional placement, but a majority also experienced barriers to the completion of their placement.
• A majority of participating students had concerns about disclosing their disability, and in some professions, there was evidence of a culture of non-disclosure due to worries about impacting upon career progression.
• Students identified strong feelings of anxiety about placement arrangements before and whilst on placement, and difficulties accessing mental health supports out of hours whilst on placement. Student mental health was also raised as a particular concern for participating staff who had identified high levels of student anxiety during the placement process.
• Students valued a supportive placement environment open to discussion and provision of reasonable accommodations. They appreciated staff with a high level of disability awareness, and HEIs and placement providers with inclusive practices supported by clear structures.
• It was evident from both students and staff that there was a lack of clarity on the difference between the administrative rules regarding placement and the actual core competencies required by the professional body, resulting in student confusion.
• Participating staff believed that changes made during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more inclusive teaching practices and had created a more empathetic environment towards disability within education and work.
• Student feedback was deemed essential to good decision making. There was general agreement however that limited arrangements existed for gathering student feedback during and post placement.
• Professional bodies were identified as playing an important role and the majority believed that they should have an active role, in partnership with HEIs and placement locations, in developing and promoting new policies concerning reasonable accommodation.
• The majority of staff considered assistive technology (AT) an important resource and reported that a lack of a clear policy on the use of AT in the placement environment created stress and anxiety for students.

Although there are many recommendations contained within this report, a summary of the top 8 are as follows:

1. HEIs should implement a clear strategy to create a safe disclosure environment for students with disabilities, and take responsibility for sharing these strategies with placement providers with the intention of creating similar safe disclosure environments on placement.
2. All HEIs running professional courses should have published policies on placement arrangements, including a pre-placement planning process which identifies all the key players in selection of placements and provision of reasonable accommodations for disabled students.
3. Academic staff and disability services in HEIs, together with placement providers, should consider a more collaborative and rigorous process on collaboratively developing pre-planning processes and documentation, to ensure placement reasonable accommodations are fully identified and implemented in a timely manner.
4. Placement providers should enter into discussions with HEIs on policy and practice on current and future provision of Assistive Technology and its use as part of the reasonable accommodations available on professional placements, in order to prevent disability discrimination.
5. HEIs should review how student feedback is gathered, used and prioritise listening to the student voice in decision-making and leadership across the whole institutional community and placement environment.
6. Professional bodies should review their procedures and communications to reflect clearly their duties and responsibilities under Section 42 of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty 2014. Professional bodies should develop communications relevant for disabled staff and potential and current students with disabilities, with examples of how a competence standard may be met through flexible arrangements.
7. HEIs should develop and publicise comprehensive information and support services for all students engaging in practice placements, especially including out-of-hours services.
8. HEIs, placement providers and professional bodies should work towards creating a coordinated multi-agency approach to promote positive student mental health during all practice-based professional placements.