Oxford college 'forced out disabled student' by not allowing her extra time to prepare for exams

A dyslexic student has claimed she was forced out of Oxford University because of her disabilities. 

Sophie Spector, 22, who won a place to study politics, philosophy and economics at Balliol College, said she was made to go on medical leave with the college suggesting she be seen by a doctor who could be 'firm with histrionics'. 

Miss Spector, who also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder, said the 752-year-old college's attitude towards her disabilities and mental health condition had been 'callous'. 

The revelations were uncovered in internal college correspondence that was obtained by Miss Spector under an access request and appeared in the Daily Telegraph.  

In one email sent in February 2013 from Douglas Dupree, the college's then chaplain and dean, to an Oxford University doctor, Miss Spector's learning difficulties are discussed.

Mr Dupree, who was in charge of students' welfare at the college, explains how she would need 'the absolute maximum limit of whatever concessions are allowed' before asking: 'Yes, why did we admit her?' 

He goes on to request for Ms Spector to be seen by a doctor 'who can be straight and firm with histrionics and panic'.  

Miss Spector, who obtained two As and an A* at A-level, went on medical leave in March 2013, a month after the email was sent.

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Miss Spector, who has ADHD and OCD, said the college's attitude towards her disabilities and mental health condition had been 'callous'

After arriving at Balliol College in 2012 - that counts former Prime Ministers H.H. Asquith, Ted Heath and Harold Macmillan, as well as London Mayor Boris Johnson among its alumni - she said the ancient college denied her the learning provisions which she had requested.

She said: 'The key thing I wanted was extended deadlines because I am a really slow reader. But they just dismissed it and I started to struggle and fall behind.'

Told that she had to pass 'collections' - an Oxford term for an exam - before she could return to the university, she ended up dropping out of her PPE degree, describing the atmosphere at the college as 'toxic'.  

Shortly after she quit the college, Miss Spector learnt her tutorial partner in PPE - one of Oxford's toughest degrees - Jennifer Xu had taken her own life while she was on medical leave. 

This came only three months after Andrew Kirkman, a 20-year-old physics and philosophy student at the college also committee suicide in December 2013, just days after agreeing to take a break from his studies to go on medical leave. 

Following the two deaths, the Oxford University Student Union called for students with mental health problems to be guaranteed support and respect. 

Indeed, the number of students seeking counselling at the university has increased by 136 per cent between 2004 and 2014.  

Referring to Miss Spector's case, Chris Fay, a specialist in equalities and human right law and managing partner at Unity Law, told the Daily Telegraph: 'This is a straight forward case of discrimination, treating someone less favourably because of their disability.

'But you could go further and say that action was deliberately taken to make life more difficult for Sophie: she was required to do more exams than everyone else with higher pass marks. This amounts to harassment on grounds of disability.

'The tone of the correspondence - the phrase "why did we admit her?" - indicates a prejudice which can be construed as victimisation on grounds of disability.'

He told the newspaper that Unity Law has been instructed to send a letter of claim to the University of Oxford to set out the basis of a challenge for disability discrimination, for breach of the Equalities Act and for failure to make reasonable adjustments on grounds of disability. 

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Douglas Dupree, who was in charge of students' welfare at Balliol college, explained how she would need 'the absolute maximum limit of whatever concessions are allowed' before asking: 'Yes, why did we admit her?'

Both Oxford University and Balliol College have insisted they have a 'caring' and 'proactive' approach to students with disabilities. 

Balliol College said they are investigating a formal complaint, adding: 'We cannot comment on that or on individual cases, but the college has a thorough and caring approach which is not fairly represented by selectively quoting from email correspondence.'

Oxford University said it takes a 'proactive approach to students with disabilities' and 'works in partnership with the student and the College to make sure necessary support arrangements are in place'.

A university spokesman said: 'The decision to take medical leave is never entered into lightly. It is used as one option within a strong and caring support system, often with the student's agreement, which in many cases helps them to recover and resume their studies successfully.'