The representation and attainment of students with a visual impairment in higher education

We carried out an analysis of a database of all students in higher education in the UK in 1995-96 to compare students with a visual impairment and students with no recorded disability in terms of their demographic characteristics, programmes of study and academic attainment. Students with a visual impairment constituted 0.12% of all students normally resident in the UK. Their representation varied with age, gender, ethnicity and entry qualifications and with their level, mode and subject of study. If these background variables are taken into account, a visual impairment per se appears to have surprisingly little effect on academic attainment