Teaching and Professional Fellowship Report 2004/5: Designing effective curriculum for dyslexic students within Art and Design in Higher Education

In the first instance, it is worthwhile examining the context for curriculum changes in 2005. The Higher Education Statistics Agency in 2004 recorded the number of dyslexic undergraduates in the U.K. as 11,865,clearly illustrating the growth rate from the total dyslexic undergraduate population in 1994 of 1,679 students (HESA, 2004).

Art led Higher Education institutions should also be aware that the Creative Arts and Design subject areas attracted the highest percentage of dyslexic students at 5.59% Even if the new Disabilities Discrimination Act 2005 did not require a mandatory focus on changes to the curriculum, the reality of a changing audience would force the issue onto the agenda. In seeking accommodation for dyslexic students it would seem beneficial to examine the whole curriculum as perhaps in redressing the balance, the Art curriculum designers will find a mode of delivery and assessment which benefits an increasingly diverse student population.

'Teaching and Professional Fellowships In Support of The Student Experience' and 'CLIP/CETL Fellowships' are to encourage individual staff's learning and development in their chosen field of endeavour so as to be of benefit to the University.