Case Study:

Direct Access are the accessibility consultants for The Kemnal Academies Trust; one of the largest English Multi-Academy Trusts with 45 Primary and Secondary Academies across London, South East, and East of England areas. Direct Access were brought in to help guide the group to meeting their obligatory accessibility requirements under the Equality Act 2010, with a specific focus on improving the teaching environment for disabled children with special or specific educational needs (SEN). This included; installing hearing loops for hard of hearing pupils, vision panels in WC’s that allow people of different heights to see the other side of the door, and ensuring that WC’s have sufficient colour contrast interiors for children with visual disabilities.

Our team which includes members of the National Register of Access Consultants and Qualified Teachers, Direct Access base our recommendations on best practice guidance, including BS8300: 2018 – Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment – Code of practice.

Other schools Direct Access has worked with range in size and complexity from primary to sixth form colleges, some with Special Educational Need (SEN) departments, others operating as solus SEN sites. We work closely with faith schools including Voluntary Aided schools, Voluntary Controlled schools, and Faith Academies for Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic and Church of England denominations. We have also covered the whole range of local authority or community schools, foundation schools, free schools and city technology colleges.

It is not just schools that engage Direct Access for their auditing requirements, we are the trusted partner for Cambridge Assessment (examinations body for 8 million pupils worldwide) and Cambridge University Press (publisher of 360 peer-reviewed journals and thousands of academic texts) as well as several Universities across the country.

We also work within 16–18-year-old education services aimed at NEET (not in education, employment or training) and recently completed audits of venues used for Princes Trust NEET programmes in Hertfordshire.