i have been declared unfit to study at university.

hello, as the title says, i have been deemed unfit to commence study at university by occupational health. i appealed this decision arguing that my condition is no different in terms of symptoms than many other conditions which i know people have commenced a course for social work on before, but my appeal came to nothing.

in my revised occupational health appeal they stated i must be without any symptoms for over a year until they could consider me on a course. i have a lifelong condition that can (very occasionally) cause me to lose consciousness.

i guess my question is should i just give up the dream of becoming a social worker now? i don’t want to go through this heartbreaking process of applying and being denied every year, and has anybody else got any advice on where to go from here as all of my plans relied on attending university.

The question is can you do the job safely?

It is obviously disability discrimination. Complain them to the ombudsman.

it was due to the fact that the 2nd and 3rd years you just be fit to work, and i never initially thought i’d be marked as unfit due to even course leaders telling me to not let a disability get in the way of applying.

i'm on a treatment plan from my doctor and have gone nearly six months without any episodes which is a far improvement from my worst periods where i had up to ten in one day. i am massively improved and just hope to stay completely clear in the hopes of starting the career i am passionate about.

and also thank you so much for your kind words and advice, they truly mean a lot.

I'm very sorry to hear that, especially since you've been open from the start about your circumstances. Do you have what they said in writing? Can you possibly contact these people again since you have already had this discussion with them previously. I feel like I'm grasping at straws and admit that I wouldn't be too optimistic since you've already been denied your appeal, but if the course leaders thought that you would be able to manage the course then that must hold some weight. If being 'fit for work' is defined at the discretion of NHS England then it may be that they apply the same criteria for everyone; from the neurosurgeons to the nurses, to the porters to the paramedics, from the cleaners to the cardiologists, without much thought of the specific nuances of each discipline. Again, I wouldn't hold your breath here but if you have proof that you've been told that your condition wouldn't preclude you then you need to bring this up.


I am glad that your treatment plan is working for you; your health comes above all else. I am not a physician (for humans at least! ) but reading between the lines if its something like seizures then obviously there is a delicate balance of managing your clinical signs vs managing side effects, convenience etc. Considering everything holistically (and I would very much argue that your mental health and hopes and dreams outside of your condition are a part of that), if anything does change then definitely contact your doctor about it.

Again, you absolutely have my empathy and support. It is frustrating because there are plenty of careers that should be possible with a social work degree; with or without practical elements. One of my close friends had a similar situation where her place on the course she was studying hung in the balance due to her health, but thankfully she is very well managed on her medication now. I hope the same can be said for you in future.

The question is can you do the job safely?

Indeed, and to this end, the Equality Act has exemptions which allow for some discrimination against protected characteristics. (Many on this site assume not, but it is the case.)

The types of exempts that are sometimes valid but mostly abused by ableist faculty staff to justify their discrimination against disabled students or candidates.

I am not getting into this with you again, ad nauseum. You are entitled to your views but please keep me out of it.

Can you point out in what sense am I totally wrong?

I am not going to engage with you about this matter any further. There were pages of this in other threads and I do not want to waste my time repeating myself to no sensible ends whatsoever.

In what sense can you disregard or invalidate my opinion about the nature of the case of the OP? Is ableism so rampant in academia that people working therein simply think it is fine and are willing to engage in bullying of disabled students to the point of destroying their career if not life?

In what sense can you disregard or invalidate my opinion about the nature of the case of the OP? Is ableism is rampant in academia that people working therein simply think it is fine and are willing to engage in bullying of disabled students to the point of destroying their career if not life?

as much as i would agree, i don’t believe it would be seen this way in the eyes of the law as i was deemed unfit to work. if i was deemed fit and then told i can’t because of my condition i believe that’d be sure fire discrimination, but it’s definitely something for me to look into

If you are studying in England, you can file a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE) - simply supply all evidence you have. Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) is also a good channel to ask for advice regarding appropriate actions, but they are not a legal service and cannot offer you a lawyer. I don't live in England but in Scotland and am going through similar issues and got some good advice from the EASS. What I would say is you should seize the chance to escalate the issue rather than give in to any mistreatment that would ruin your career. My case is currently being reviewed by the public ombudsman in Scotland after my university HR simply refused to do anything about the faculty staff who mistreated me.