According to the UAL Dashboard, across CCW 18% of our students have declared a Disability. Chelsea specifically has a slightly higher rate with 18.5% of our students having declared a Disability, of whom 3.4% declared a Mental Health condition. These statistics are at odds to the general populace. In terms of Mental Health alone, a 2023 survey [see Baker and Kirk-Wade (2024)] found that among those aged 17 to 19, 10% had a probable mental disorder in 2017, rising to 23% in 2023 (emphasis mine). In 2025, these are the 19-21 year olds on the 2nd Year (2Y) of the BA Fine Art.
I don’t have space here to unpack all the reasons behind the sharp rise in mental ill health amongst young people, but research shows that COVID and the climate crisis are contributory factors [Lawrance et all (2022)]. In terms of mental health alone, there is a disconnect of around 20% between the national statistics (23%) and the student disclosed statistics at Chelsea (3.4%). From my experience as Year leader for 2Y, I would say the national picture is a much more accurate reflection of my students’ mental health.
As educators the mental health of our students has a direct impact on how students engage with us and learn, and should impact our pedagogy. Hence, the non-disclosure of students’ mental health conditions raises particular challenges. Whilst visible Disabilities have their own distinct concerns, particularly in a building as inaccessible as Chelsea’s, I am concerned that invisible Disabilities are remaining hidden in a context where students must disclose in order to be seen. Why, as these statistics suggest, are students unwilling to disclosure? There is support (albeit limited) via the Disability service, and students with an ISA (Individual Support Agreement) can get two-week extensions on deadlines.
A starting point to truly trying to address students’ reluctance to disclose would be to understand more fully, the personal and external barriers students face that prevent them from doing so. As Moriña summarises the most common external factor students’ identity is faculty themselves. “Many students with invisible disabilities find that faculty members are neither informed nor trained to support them and contribute to their inclusion.” [Moriña (2022) p.919]
Dr Nicole Brown has raised this as a critical issue, asking how visible people with Disabilities in teaching or academia are [see Brown (2018)]. If students can’t see themselves represented in staff, how can we say we are truly creating inclusive environments for teaching? This creates a self-fulfilling cycle where ableism is not tackled. Are students choosing not to disclosure their Disability due to the perceived cost of being stigmatised, marginalised and categorised in a context where they are not represented? This might be particularly true in the case of mental health where there are strong social stigmas at play, particularly when we take into consideration different intersectional cultural, class and gender-based factors.
What is clear to me, is that in my role at UAL I have the opportunity and responsibility to visibilise my own invisible Disabilities. By doing so, I can contribute to a more inclusive working and learning culture at UAL, for both staff and students.
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Bibiliography
Baker, C. and Kirk-Wade, E. (2024) Mental health statistics: Prevalence, services and funding in England – House of Commons Library, House of Commons Library, UK Parliament. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06988/ (Accessed: 26 May 2025).
Brown, N. (2022) Wellbeing in higher education podcast: Ableism, Dr Nicole Brown. Available at: https://www.nicole-brown.co.uk/wellbeing-podcast/ (Accessed: 23 May 2025).
Brown, N. and Leigh, J. (2018) ‘Ableism in academia: Where are the disabled and ill academics?’, Disability & Society, 33(6), pp. 985–989. doi:10.1080/09687599.2018.1455627.
Lawrance, E.L. et al. (2022) ‘Psychological responses, mental health, and sense of agency for the dual challenges of climate change and the covid-19 pandemic in young people in the UK: An online survey study’, The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(9), pp. 726–738. doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00172-3.
Moriña, A. (2022). When what is unseen does not exist: disclosure, barriers and supports for students with invisible disabilities in higher education. Disability & Society, 39(4), 914–932. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2113038
UAL Dashboard (Accessed 26 May 2025)