A FORMER Midwifery student has been awarded £20,000 after settling a case in which she alleged disability discrimination.
Sarah Walker, who lives with Cystic Fibrosis, brought the case against Queen's University Belfast.
In settling the case, which was supported by the Equality Commission, the university apologised to Ms Walker for the injury to feelings and distress she experienced while making no admission of liability.
Ms Walker was studying midwifery in 2018 when she was admitted to hospital. When she tried to resume her studies, she was told she had missed too much of her first term and would have to withdraw for the rest of the academic year.
"I just wanted to study for my chosen career in midwifery. I needed some extra support and above all some understanding of the life-long condition that I live with," she said.
"Unfortunately, I felt I had to withdraw from the course as I considered the support I needed was neither clear nor in place to allow me to progress."
Evelyn Collins, Chief Executive of the Equality Commission said Ms Walker's experiences highlighted the importance of universities taking steps to support students with disabilities.
"Universities must make reasonable adjustments to all policies, procedures and practices to ensure that a disabled student is not placed at a disadvantage compared to those who are not disabled. This means that educational institutions must make changes, where reasonable, not only in response to the individual needs of students but also proactively for disabled students generally," she said.
Queen's said it could not comment on specific cases but had a robust equality, diversity and inclusion policy.
