{"id":13207,"date":"2025-06-30T09:03:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T08:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13207"},"modified":"2025-11-14T17:20:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:20:30","slug":"give-me-access-to-college-blind-and-partially-sighted-students-remain-locked-out-of-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/06\/give-me-access-to-college-blind-and-partially-sighted-students-remain-locked-out-of-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Give me Access to college: Blind and Partially Sighted Students Remain Locked Out of College\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Thomas Pocklington Trust\u2019s (TPT) latest&nbsp;\u2018Give Me Access to College;&nbsp;report reveals that blind and partially sighted students continue to face significant barriers in accessing specialist vision impairment (VI) support in post 16 education. Despite efforts to reform education for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Further Education (FE) continues to be overlooked, and unacceptable gaps remain limiting opportunities for young people with a VI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This report revisits our earlier findings, \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pocklington.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Give-me-Access-to-College-Report.pdf\">Give Me Access to College<\/a>\u2019 and highlights the urgent need for targeted reforms. We call on the Government to ensure that blind and partially sighted young people are included in the SEND improvement agenda, with consistent support, training, and access to a full range of post 16 pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We request your support and encourage you to take action by sending a letter to your MP, you can help encourage positive change for blind and partially sighted young people. It\u2019s quick, simple and it can lead to real change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pocklington.org.uk\/education\/education-policy\/give-me-access-to-college\/\">Read our full report here, and send the letter to your MP<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also read our <a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpulse%2Ffrom-experience-evidence-landscape-post-16-education-sscoe&amp;data=05%7C02%7CKrupali.Parshotam%40pocklington.org.uk%7C9b2cf44e60824e2089eb08ddb30fc326%7C65395a073d564877b61bf53aafe53564%7C0%7C0%7C638863602476229468%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=%2FGY20SsMwFAYz8fuso5GQ85VNt%2BNbN2ZcJeJbjOPhG0%3D&amp;reserved=0\">LinkedIn blog<\/a>&nbsp; written by Krupali Parshotam, sharing her experiences of college as a blind and partially sighted person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like to learn more about our work, then sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pocklington.org.uk%2Fjoin-our-mailing-list%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CKrupali.Parshotam%40pocklington.org.uk%7C30804bfc42044b3f564708dda989f8d2%7C65395a073d564877b61bf53aafe53564%7C0%7C0%7C638853132474086602%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=NS3DVXVxAWQ5wSdgRbbXbzJS6l0fepZrr%2FbWgaY59w0%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Education Newsletter<\/a>. Or if you would like a more in-depth conversation, contact us at <a href=\"mailto:educationpolicy@pocklington.org.uk\">educationpolicy@pocklington.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Update November 2025:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Latest AmplifyFE resource linked to the work of Thomas Pocklington Trust\u2019s work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AmplifyFE podcast<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/0sdkr1CFNmKTBzCTmoVeFM?si=wqQMtH0XRn6umS2QkOtwnA\">Access and Assistance for All (AAA) Youth Champions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the latest AmplifyFE podcast, we have done something slightly different. The Access and Assistance for All (AAA) Youth Champions have taken over and written, recorded and produced this episode to promote the AAA campaign. It aims to make further education more accessible by design, and to increase awareness about assistive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomas Pocklington Trust\u2019s (TPT) latest&nbsp;\u2018Give Me Access to College;&nbsp;report reveals that blind and partially sighted students continue to face significant barriers in accessing specialist vision impairment (VI) support in post 16 education. Despite efforts to reform education for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Further Education (FE) continues to be overlooked, and unacceptable [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1499],"tags":[1258,1412,725,1920,2188,2193,2192,2191,2190,2189],"class_list":["post-13207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amplifyfe","tag-altc-2","tag-amplifyfe","tag-altc","tag-amplifyfe-2","tag-give-me-access-to-college","tag-krupali-parshotam","tag-send","tag-special-educational-needs-and-disabilities","tag-thomas-pocklington-trust","tag-visual-impairment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/03\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-1.png?fit=1468%2C1100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13174,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/06\/an-interview-with-zoe-chapman-author-of-the-access-to-higher-education-handbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":13207,"position":0},"title":"An interview with Zo\u00eb Chapman, author of The Access to Higher Education Handbook","author":"ALT","date":"16 June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Can you talk briefly about your journey, from starting the Access to Higher Education Diploma to writing The Access to Higher Education Handbook? I started the Access to HE Diploma when I was in my 20s after four failed attempts at university! After I finished, I went back to university\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AmplifyFE Community Space logo and ALT and Ufi logos","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/03\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-1.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/03\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-1.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/03\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-1.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/03\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-1.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/03\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-1.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11626,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2024\/01\/jisc-helps-college-staff-unlock-the-power-of-ai-to-improve-the-learner-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":13207,"position":1},"title":"Jisc helps college staff unlock the power of AI to improve the learner experience","author":"ALT","date":"5 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"These days, college staff face a new challenge: embrace AI and its potential to improve efficiency, or ignore it and risk being left behind. Education is one of the fastest growing areas when it comes to the use of AI, but many teachers are still understandably anxious about adopting the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"#AmplifyFE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11670,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/11\/redefining-attendance-tracking-in-education-the-journey-of-fizzynewt\/","url_meta":{"origin":13207,"position":2},"title":"Redefining Attendance Tracking in Education: The Journey of FizzyNewt","author":"ALT","date":"21 November 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In my journey as a university lecturer, I've encountered the cumbersome nature of traditional attendance management systems, filled with inefficiencies and unnecessary complexities. It's a task that, while essential, often detracts from the essence of education. This realisation sparked a passion in me: there must be a better way.\u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2023-10-30-at-11.49.09-2.png?fit=700%2C235&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2023-10-30-at-11.49.09-2.png?fit=700%2C235&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2023-10-30-at-11.49.09-2.png?fit=700%2C235&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2023-10-30-at-11.49.09-2.png?fit=700%2C235&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13482,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/12\/25-days-of-amplifyfe-celebrating-community-practice-and-professional-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":13207,"position":3},"title":"25 Days of AmplifyFE: Celebrating Community, Practice and Professional Learning","author":"ALT","date":"20 December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re delighted to share\u00a025 Days of AmplifyFE, a festive countdown celebrating the knowledge, collaboration, and innovation that make our FE community so special. Each day we've highlighted a resource, event, opportunity or moment from across the AmplifyFE network: from thought-provoking blog posts and inspiring webinar recordings, to community calls to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AmplifyFE community space","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12605,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2024\/10\/my-journey-with-the-crdl-and-winning-the-ufi-voctech-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":13207,"position":4},"title":"My Journey with the Crdl and Winning the UFI VocTech Award","author":"ALT","date":"1 October 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I am incredibly honoured and excited to share that Burton and South Derbyshire College has won the inaugural Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Award for Use of Technology in Vocational Education, in partnership with Ufi VocTech Trust. This achievement is the result of our work integrating the Crdl device into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/10\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-534-x-200-px.png?fit=534%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/10\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-534-x-200-px.png?fit=534%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/10\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-534-x-200-px.png?fit=534%2C200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12349,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2024\/07\/fabrio-bridging-the-skills-gap-in-computer-aided-design\/","url_meta":{"origin":13207,"position":5},"title":"Fabrio: Bridging the skills gap in Computer-Aided Design","author":"ALT","date":"2 July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Background Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is no longer a niche skill \u2013 it's the universal language of modern creativity. From manufacturing everyday products to developing Oscar-winning special effects, CAD is fundamental to the entire design process. Yet, a concerning skills gap is emerging. A staggering 64% of engineering companies report a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AmplifyFE Community Space","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-10.png?fit=1200%2C373&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-10.png?fit=1200%2C373&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-10.png?fit=1200%2C373&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-10.png?fit=1200%2C373&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-10.png?fit=1200%2C373&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6CxU9-3r1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13451,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13207\/revisions\/13451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}