The true cost of the international student crisis revealed
The Home Office’s tightening of visa rules have plunged international students, universities and local businesses into financial uncertainty and anxiety.
Many say the crisis has the potential to ruin young lives, destroy the international reputation of UK education, and bankrupt universities across the country.
International student enrolment in UK universities has dropped dramatically this year in the wake of huge shifts in Home Office visa policy.
In December, Rishi Sunak announced a huge hike in the salary level required to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa, from £26,200 to £38,700.
Universities UK, which represents 142 institutions across the country, reported that international student enrolment into postgraduate taught programmes is down 40% in 2024 as a result.
Last month, Home Secretary James Cleverly went further, asking the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to conduct a “rapid review” into the Graduate Visa, a post-study visa that currently allows recent graduates to live and work in the UK for two to three years.
The visa changes have left UK international students feeling hopeless, uncertain, and afraid.
A Colombian student who has built a life in the UK - with a job she loves, a partner, and a home, is now facing the possibility she'll be forced to abandon her dreams.
A young gay man from the Middle East fears that he'll have to go back to a country where he must hide his sexuality.
A Sri Lankan graduate who paid £1,000s up front for a Graduate Visa but was unable to find a job that would sponsor her, and has had to leave.
A French woman with Indefinite Leave to Remain still feels she'll "never be good enough for England."
One young Indian mother who took out a loan and sold her most precious belongings to come study for a Masters in UK, and now is worried that she'll have no choice but to return to India.
And many universities are also adopting a mobile phone app that allows an outside company to track and store student location data, which could then be used to deport international students.
International students contribute £41.9bn to the UK economy each year which means every person in the UK is £560 richer because of them.
According to Labour MP for Sheffield Central Paul Blomfield, the city's economy will be negatively affected if international student numbers dwindle. The economic impact is particularly severe for cities with more than one university, such as Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool.
The Migration Observatory reports that in the academic year of 2021/2022, international tuition made up more than a fifth of the total income of UK universities. Losing that income would send many universities spiralling into financial difficulties.
Anti-spiking charity demands change in laws
The UK’s first anti-spiking charity is calling for the government to make spiking a standalone offence.
Despite the huge increase of spiking in clubs and bars, there is no single law for the act - instead it is prosecuted in conjunction with another crime.
Spike Aware UK’s aim is to challenge the outdated spiking laws in the UK, the majority of which are based on legislation that is over 160 years old.
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer announced if Labour won the next general election, his party would push to make spiking a standalone offence.
Colin Mackie, who founded Spike Aware UK, with his wife, Mandy after their son died from drink spiking, said: “If we can get a standalone law, every police force will need to act in the same way. There will be procedures in place which they will all have to follow. At the moment it's not being taken seriously enough."
One spiking law that has been updated, since the 1861 legislation was introduced, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, made spiking with ‘intent to engage in a non-consensual sexual activity’ punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
Mr Mackie is calling on the government to update the laws and make the act of spiking in itself a punishable offence, regardless of intent of the offender.
He claims there needs to be changes in the way cases are handled by the police, explaining if someone was assaulted on a night out, the police would immediately demand CCTV and to speak to witnesses, but in cases of spiking, they are nowhere near as reactive.
He said he had spoken to a victim’s father who picked his daughter up from a nightclub after she was spiked. The father went into the club, found his daughter and carried her out without being challenged by a single member of staff at the venue.
The victim’s father said what he was really concerned about was the fact he felt that anyone could have done this while his daughter was extremely vulnerable.
Mr Mackie also pointed out spiking happens to both men and women. He said: “We know of a male victim, who said the police laughed at him and said ‘it doesn’t happen to men’, when he said he’d been spiked.
“That to me is the problem. Not acting quick enough, not having a deterrent.”
He also called for greater coordination between hospitals and the police to deal with spiking victims. He explained victims are dismissed as being drunk rather than actually being drugged, meaning they do not get the blood tests they need.
Most drug testing needs to be done within 72 hours, but Mr Mackie said if victims are bounced between police and hospitals, any traces of the drug in their blood leave the body.
“One girl we spoke to had been taken to A&E, and when they got there they kept her in overnight but they told her she needed to her GP to get a blood test," said Mr Mackie. "It was five days before she got a GP appointment, so if there were any drugs in her system they were gone.”
The charity also offers judgement free advice and support for spiking victims. While they said they do not pressure victims to speak to the police, they believe the more people do the more awareness will be raised.
Innovative change needed to reduce autism employment gap with just 30% of people in work
Only three in 10 autistic adults are in work meaning those with the condition face worse prospects than any other group of disabled people,
The statistics revealed as part of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment say this compares with half of all disabled people and eight in 10 non-disabled people.
The review showed that many autistic people want to find meaningful employment, but the support and funding is not available.
Tynisha Abdy, a fitness instructor from Ripon, was diagnosed with autism at the age of 12 after 10 years of her mum trying to get her a diagnosis.
She said: “Because I proved I am quite high functioning, I’m quite capable of most things, and I mask it well, school said I was fine and there’s nothing wrong with me.
"Obviously, when I was in my home setting, it showed up most. That’s why it took so long for me to get a diagnosis, because no-one believed I had it.”
After leaving school, she had a string of jobs, ranging from waitressing to working at an admissions booth at a theme park.
Now 21, Tynisha says: “I’ve had so many jobs, and that’s one of the issues. I can’t maintain nine-to-five regular jobs. It’s just too challenging, or the hours are too long, or they are not accommodating enough for me to be able to fully function, so I’ve never been able to hold one down."
What is the autism employment gap?
The Buckland Review of Autism Employment highlights that the biggest barrier to accessing employment for autistic people is a lack of understanding and negative stereotypes.
The report found around one third of autistic employees felt unable to discuss their adjustment needs at all, and those who did request adjustments, over a quarter were refused and more than one in ten found the adjustment was poorly implemented.
Interviews and application processes are rarely adapted to suit the needs of autistic people, and many autistic jobseekers face barriers such as unclear interview questions and vague job descriptions.
How can the autism employment gap be closed?
The review found that employers and managers often report poor knowledge of autism and feel under-prepared to identify and implement adjustments for autistic people.
Following the lack of understanding and support Tynisha faced across various workplaces, she is petitioning for at least one person to be trained in Level 2 Understanding Autism in all companies, schools, and public services.
So far, she has gained 296 of the 10,000 signatures needed for the government to acknowledge the petition.
Alongside her current role, Tynisha is the CEO of Visible Autism, a platform which she uses to share her everyday life as an autistic person.
She said: “I want to show people that I can do normal things. Just because I am autistic, it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, I just do it in a different way.”
Tynisha designed the company’s logo, a large A, with hopes for it to become the national symbol for autism.
She says: “I want people to know that when they see the logo in a shop window or on public transport, that there are people trained in autism awareness.”
Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the National Autistic Society, said: “It’s extremely worrying that waiting lists for an autism assessment in England have increased by 47% in the last year. There are now more than 172,000 people potentially struggling without the right help and support in their daily lives.
“The Government promised to make significant progress in reducing diagnosis waiting times in its autism strategy, but these figures make clear how in fact the complete opposite is happening.
“Autistic people shouldn’t miss out on vital support, or even develop mental health problems and end up in crisis, because they haven’t received the timely assessment that they’re entitled to.
“Without urgent long-term funding for diagnosis services, waiting lists will continue to rise. The Government must keep its promise and invest in the support and services that autistic people and their families need.”
To sign the campaign, click here
Spiking is no joke say campaigners and victims
The lack of coordination between police, hospitals and government means only a fraction of drink spiking incidents end in a criminal prosecution.
To understand the reasons for this and the impact it has on people, we spoke to campaigners, experts and victims.
Collin and Mandy Mackie founded Spike Aware in 2017 after their 18-year-old son died when his drink was spiked with ecstasy in his student halls in Edinburgh.
They support victims of spiking who are too afraid to report it to the police, a common issue as 97% of incidents go unreported.
A Leeds woman was spiked with heroin at her place of work where she passed out in a cubicle and was undiscovered for three hours. Due to the possibility of being sexually assaulted, she was put on HIV medication and unable to try for a baby as a result.
After posting her experience on The Egalitarian - a campaign group that allows victims to share their experiences online - her employer told her to take the post down because "it made them look bad".
Sarah Horsley, 36, a mother of four, was spiked at a dance bar in Leeds and fell down two flights of stairs. The incident has shaken her confidence and for the last year she has not been able to enjoy going out with her friends.
There is currently no law which makes drink spiking a single offence, with it often falling under much older and outdated laws. In 2023, 61 people were convicted of spiking related offences, despite police receiving 6,732 reports between May 2022 and April 2023.
Some campaign groups are calling on the government to make drink spiking a crime in its own right, but others argue it will not make a difference if factors such as testing, motivations, prevention, and communication are not addressed as well.
Dawn Dines, CEO of Stamp Out Spiking, has been calling on the government to make spiking a single-offence crime for 20 years. The charity offers training to bar staff and venues to help with incidents of spiking.
The Egalitarian and Spike Aware also want to see a law change, but Professor Nicole Westmarland, director of the Durham Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse, says that a law change won't be enough if testing, research, and communication between emergency services is not improved too.
Sheffield Wire's Drink spiking: A normalised crime? campaign wants to encourage more people to come forward and highlight how the systems currently in place are not fit to support victims, prevent spiking, and carry out justice.
The myth of equal opportunity in football: ‘You’re either good enough to play academy level or you don’t play at all’
The success of the Lionesses saw an upsurge in the number of women's football teams but the opportunities available for players are still limited.
When England won the European Championships in the summer of 2022, there were almost 1,500 new women’s teams registered. Between October 2022 and October 2023, the total number of registered women playing football in England increased by 12 per cent.
With the new, seemingly abundant amount of teams and registered players, do women feel these statistics mirror their realities?
Emma Doyle, 24, is a professional footballer who plays in the FA Women’s Championship for Blackburn Rovers, doesn't think so.
“Since the Lionesses won the Euros a couple of years ago, there has, one hundred percent, been increased attention on women’s football and girls wanting to play, but in terms of finding a team, it’s not changed," she says. "In my experience, you’re either good enough to play for an academy or you don’t play at all.”
Emma, originally from Liverpool, has played football all of her life, and considers herself 'one of the lucky ones' after securing a professional contract. She believes, without this playing weekly, competitive football is still wholly inaccessible, especially compared with the opportunities her male counterparts have.
“Although we’re made to believe that girls are playing football, and it’s just as accessible for us, that’s not the case," says Emma. "If you’re in your teens and you want to find a Sunday league team, I’m not really sure how you’d go about doing that. If you’re a lad and you fancy signing for someone, you just call one of your mates, and the next weekend you’ll have a club. It’s not like that for girls.”
Across Liverpool, there are only five locations where girls can play amateur weekend league football. Of these, only three divisions extend to players past the age of 13 - the city only has one open-age football league.
Chloe Bloxam, 22, is a content creator for Liverpool FC’s fan media outlet, Redmen TV, and regularly appears on BBC Sport, LFCTV and other sports media in the UK.
She believes playing in a competitive weekend amateur league isn’t the only problem faced by women. Just getting together for a ‘kickabout’ or joining a 5-a-side team for women is also difficult.
“The only time I usually get to play football is representing Redmen TV in tournaments and I’m playing against men who are in their 30," says Emma. "They’re bigger, stronger, and obviously more athletic than me. There’s no enjoyment in that, it makes me feel like I’m c**p at football.
"But I'm not. I’m a good footballer. I had trials for Everton when I was a kid but I still play with men and it really limits what I can do with the ball and my enjoyment of the game.”
Chloe has spent years at a time without being signed to a team. “I used to play for a local side called Mossley Hill when I was younger," she says. "But, for years I've not been able to find myself another team. Until recently, I’d have never even known that was possible.
"Last week was the first time I’d kicked a ball with a group of girls for six years."
The lack of opportunity for girls is something that Chloe has felt acutely during and working in football and believes this is evidence that they don't exist as prominently as they have been reported.
“You’d think that if anyone knew where to find girl’s footy, it would be me, especially working in the industry, but I honestly don’t," she added.
Abigail Rudkin, 23, is an artist and avid Liverpool FC fan. She paints football-inspired artwork, represents Liverpool fans as a panellist on Sky Sports’ The Overlap, and regularly makes appearances on fan media outlets such as The Anfield Wrap.
She blames engrained and residual sexism throughout her early life and school years as the reason why she doesn’t play football. “I love football, but I never played it," she says.
"I think that’s down to old-fashioned attitudes. When I was in school, we never played football in PE. We’d always do the stereotypically 'female sports' like netball. Football was never on the agenda. I wouldn’t play it now either, but that’s because I know without that experience, I wouldn’t be any good."
“If it had been put in front of me as a kid though, I probably would have got into it,” Abigail says.
In October 2020, the FA launched a campaign, Inspiring Positive Change, an initiative designed to increase female participation and access to football. Their aim was to achieve equal access to the sport in 75% of schools' PE lessons across the country by October 2024.
In December, the FA stated that they had reached this target 12 months earlier than expected.
‘The inability to communicate has a profound effect’: daughter tells of tragic impact on dad’s mental health
Two-fifths of people who are deaf or have hearing loss have been affected by mental health issues - compared with a quarter of the hearing population, according to new statistics.
The effects of not being able to communicate easily can often have a big impact.
Josefa Mackinnon, the daughter of Deaf parents, said: “Sadly a few years ago my dad died by suicide. He left a note, and everything in there was to do with not being able to communicate properly and not being able to understand or empathise.
“All of that language deprivation that he would have experienced, I think, essentially resulted in him deciding to take his life.”
Communication barriers deprive many deaf people of enjoying social interactions and therefore is the main reason they have poorer health outcomes compared to hearing people.
“That was even up to the things that happened the day he passed. He was due to have an operation, and an interpreter didn't turn up, so he got upset.
“So the inability to communicate has a profound effect on Deaf people,” said Ms Mackinnon.
According to GOV.UK, 50% of deaf people will have poor mental health, compared to 25% of the general population. This is shown in the chart below.
Sign Health, a Deaf-led team devoted to the health and wellbeing for deaf people, in a study on mental health and deafness, found that “there are unfair and avoidable differences between the mental health services available to deaf and hearing people. Deaf people do not receive equitable healthcare.”
The study also found that mental health-related self-help resources are not readily available in British Sign Language.
“Deafness for many people is associated with social exclusion and reduced educational and employment opportunities”, said a spokesperson for Sign Health.
These factors are massive contributors to why deaf people are more likely to struggle with mental health.
Sign Health recommends that Primary Care and Hospital Trusts include deaf awareness guidance in their training and development curricula for all front-line staff.
Anyone struggling with any of these issues should go to https://signhealth.org.uk/ for more information.
The long wait for an autism diagnosis – how people are falling through the cracks
As more people have become aware of what it means to be autistic, waiting times to be assessed have increased dramatically - and campaigners fear a quarter of a million people could be on the list in England by the end of this year.
There were 172,022 people in England on the waiting list after being referred by a GP, as of December 2023 - and this could reach 250,000 if the list continues to grow at this rate.
A lot of the commentary suggests that the waiting lists are so long because social media and the internet cause people to self-diagnose, particularly after the pandemic.
However, Sheffield Wire spoke to people about the challenges they have to deal with, both in seeking diagnosis and post-diagnosis, to show that peoples' concerns should be taken seriously.
Rachel Vernon was both shocked and relieved to receive an autism diagnosis at 33, after years of feeling like something was not quite right.
She said: “It helped me understand why I felt how I felt, and allowed me to be kinder to myself. It’s like the cogs just suddenly fit.”
Her diagnosis came 18 years after her younger brother Wes, who was diagnosed when he was 15. The diagnostic criteria for autism have generally been based on the behaviour of young boys, which means the signs of autism are far more likely to be detected in boys than girls.
There are startling discrepancies between who has to wait longer for the diagnosis, with gender, regional waiting times, age being major factors, as well as some people's perceptions of what it means to be autistic.
This led to people like Joan waiting seven years for a diagnosis, after he was originally told by a GP that “he did not deserve a diagnosis”.
Beyond diagnosis, autistic people also face distinct challenges that tend to be overlooked going through the menopause and finding employment.
For instance, the recent Buckland Review revealed that despite their wish to work, only around three in ten working age autistic disabled people are in employment, compared with around five in ten for all disabled people and eight in ten for non-disabled people.
Tynisha Abdy is petitioning for at least one person to be trained in Level 2 Understanding Autism in all companies, schools and public services.
Sheffield Wire spoke to employers, specialist organisations, charities and experts about how close the inequality gap, how to raise awareness, and how the NHS and society as a whole can better support autistic people.
International students: Who are they and how often do they stay in the UK after graduating?
Who comes from abroad to study in the UK?
In the 2021/2022 academic year, House of Commons Library reported that there were 679,970 international students in the UK.
According to the 2021 census, international students come in large numbers from China, India, Romania, Nigeria, Poland, Italy and the United States. The Migration Observatory reported that the UK in 2021 was the second most popular country for international students in the world.
Can international students access benefits?
No, they cannot access any benefits. To use the NHS, international students pay a fee as part of their visa application. This fee has recently increased to £776 per year, up from £470 per year.
Do international students usually stay permanently in the UK?
Most international students do not stay in the UK after graduating. The Office for National Statistics reports that 80% of international students do not stay beyond five years.
If an international student wishes to stay in the UK and work after graduating, what visas can they apply for?
Since 2019, international students have been able to apply after graduation for a two- to three-year post-study visa called the Graduate Visa, which allows them to work and live in the UK during that time. The visa cannot be renewed or extended. It is intended to help recent international student graduates to start their careers in the UK after studying and work their way up to the kinds of jobs that sponsor work visas.
After that, international students who want to continue working in the UK need to find a job that will sponsor them under a Skilled Worker Visa.
In December, Rishi Sunak announced a hike in the minimum salary required to get a Skilled Worker Visa from £26,200 to £38,700. Under the new rules, international graduates in the first four years after finishing the Graduate Visa are considered “new entrants,” and can get sponsored on a Skilled Work Visa at the reduced salary requirement of £30,960.
Nearly a third of people struggle to access hearing services
One in three people who are Deaf or suffer from hearing loss say they have had difficulties accessing services or faced a long wait for an appointment.
Around 12 million adults in the UK are Deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, according to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), and an estimated 14.2 million adults across the country will be living with hearing loss by 2035.
Rachel, 22, from Cornwall, whose name has been changed to preserve anonymity, lost part of her hearing after an illness when she was a teenager. She was offered hearing aids by her local audiology services but experienced long delays each time she moved home.
She said: “When I moved, they took me off their system and I had to start all over again. This meant I was back at the end of the queue. I moved away for university and I didn’t get offered an initial appointment until three years after I had first applied, and during my last week in the city before I moved away.”
Her appointments were initially fairly regular, but became infrequent during the pandemic.
Rachel said: “Every appointment I’ve had has been wonderful, but the waiting lists are so long I never know what to do. The audiologists and appointments I have had have been great, they’re just not readily available and easy to access.”
A recent report by RNID revealed that around five million people who could benefit from hearing aids, do not have them, and the accessibility of audiology services may be a key factor.
Staff shortages, insufficient funding and the pandemic have all impacted audiology services, making access to crucial appointments and consultation a growing challenge to people around the UK.
The report identified a lack of communication, confusing referral process, and a limited availability of appointments as some of the main issues faced by people accessing audiology services.
While over 68% of survey respondents found it easy to get an audiology referral, the research suggests that up to a third of people may be finding it difficult to access the services.
Rachel said: “Because I am not visibly hard of hearing and don’t have hearing aids, it’s very difficult for me to ask people to repeat things, or be believed when I tell others I have hearing loss. I am the youngest person in a lot of the social groups I interact with and it’s very hard to explain that I am still disabled even if I am young.
“I would love to see there be more options for those who struggle with their hearing to see a professional within a reasonable amount of time. I can’t afford to do anything privately, and I don’t agree that people should have to pay at point of entry.”
The demand for audiology services is rising; according to the Office for National Statistics. The year 2023/24 saw an increase of 13.1% in audiology assessments, while RNID reported that only 53% of NHS audiology services users said they found it easy to make audiology appointments, compared to 77% of private users. Telephone-only booking systems were a common complaint in both groups.
Caitlin, 23, from Hertfordshire, has severe hearing loss in her right ear and moderate loss in the left. She uses two hearing aids, and recalls the process of getting a referral for an NHS audiology appointment as negative and overly complicated.
She said: “Once I finally got a text and letter from my local audiology department about making an appointment for the right place, they informed me they were going to call me and if I didn’t answer they would discharge me.
“Absolutely ridiculous when this is a service for people with hearing problems who are likely to struggle to hear the phone. We ended up going down to the hospital to explain the situation and they booked me an appointment then rather than over the phone as that would have been impossible for me.”
Despite having generally positive experiences with the NHS audiology services in Hertfordshire, she recalls an incident so shocking that it made her cry.
She said: “I went for an appointment to retune my aids as I was really struggling to hear with them at the setting they were at the time.
“I had a hearing test and I couldn’t hear any of the beeps. The audiologist stopped the test and came and asked me if I really couldn’t hear anything. I felt so offended and like she was questioning if I was lying.
“I suffer with tinnitus which sometimes makes it hard to hear the beeps as the tinnitus is similar. I had already explained that to the audiologist prior to the testing beginning and I did the best I could to try to distinguish between the two.
“Once the testing was completed, the audiologist started with accusatory questions again. Asking me why I didn’t press the button to say I had heard the beep every single time. Telling me I was too young to have hearing loss. Telling me I didn’t have hearing problems I just wasn’t paying attention.”
Caitlin was shaken by the experience and still feels upset about it 18 months later. She no longer attends her audiology appointments alone due to the distressing encounter.
As her hearing loss changes over time, Caitlin has to regularly make appointments to re-tune her hearing aids, she finds it difficult to make an audiology appointment in her local area.
Caitlin said: “As far as I am aware, the only way to do so is to call their number.
“I cannot understand the logic behind having a system that is so impractical for so many and it’s disappointing that healthcare professionals who work with hearing loss everyday would use a system that is not accessible for the majority of people with hearing loss.”
Caitlin is not the only person with hearing loss who has experienced this particular issue. The majority of the people Sheffield Wire has contacted have also said they had been called or left a voicemail by audiology services staff.
Such complaints are also frequent in online communities, such as Deaf and Hard of Hearing UK Facebook group, where people living with hearing loss can find support and advice from members with similar experiences.
Adam, 45, from Leicester is one such person. He uses a hearing aid and prefers to use audiology services in the private sector.
He said: “Specsavers is quick and easy to get an appointment with in a week. NHS can take up to six weeks in my personal experience, and that’s for the first appointment and only appointment.
“I went to Specsavers first, to test my hearing. I learnt I needed a hearing aid but at the time they couldn't provide one due to my age (35), so I was referred to an NHS hearing specialist which was easy to get hearing aid from.”
Last month, Primary Care Minister Andrea Leadsom MP said in an official statement: "We remain committed to making our healthcare system faster, simpler and fairer for all patients so that everyone who needs an appointment is able to get one.
"Hundreds of thousands more people a month will have the option to refer themselves for key services such as help with incontinence, podiatry, or hearing tests without needing to see a GP, as part of the NHS primary care access recovery plan."
Sheffield Wire approached the Department of Health and Social Care for a comment.
Grassroots team refuse to be deterred by ingrained sexism in football
A grassroots women’s football team, set up in the wake of the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 victory, are determined not to be beaten by inequalities within the sport.
This followed almost 1500 new female teams that were set up across the country in the first season after Leah Williamson led England to their first major footballing trophy since the 1966 men’s World Cup.
Hemsworth Miners Welfare Ladies FC were re-established last year and went on to win the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women’s Second Division in their debut season.
But despite the club sharing a name and pitch with their male counterparts, there is little crossover between the teams.
Team captain, Chloe Harrison, 34, said: "There isn't much cohesion beyond equally splitting funds raised from event raffles, at Christmas and Easter."
The lack of investment into grassroot football for girls means clubs including Hemsworth Miners Welfare Ladies FC are left struggling to finance basic necessities.
In their debut season, players raised funds to buy their own kits, but they were restricted to shirts and shorts designed for men. A number of the team later used their own money to purchase women’s shorts.
Wing-back, Nim Fenton said: “It was frustrating having done all that fundraising to get that kit in the first place, only to then go and buy your own shorts."
Hemsworth will be getting female-fitting kits ahead of their 2024/25 campaign, but this is only one of the obstacles they have had to overcome.
Some of the Hemsworth players choose to wear men’s boots. Although this is personal preference, the market for boots designed for women is limited, and therefore expensive.
Beyond the 90 minutes, they also face challenges when it comes to the day-to-day running of the club.
“We don’t train in our usual slot because the men take priority on this pitch," said Fenton, 26.
There is also discrepancies between the men's and women's team when it comes to the logistics of running the club.
“Our captain, Chloe, runs the club’s accounts by herself, so she’s asking everyone for the subs all the time,” said Ell Wright, 22, the social media manager for the club. “Whereas the men have someone who does that for them.”
Despite the restraints they face on and off the pitch, the players say they have never faced any overt sexism as female players.
The team are also hoping success in their debut season can create opportunities to work more closely with their male counterparts.
“It’s our first season together and we’ve come away as champions, and the men haven’t,” said Harrison, the team's captain. “It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
How young deaf people are being left unheard
Deafness is stereotypically associated with an older population, but there are more than 50,000 children and three people born each day in the UK with a form of hearing loss.
As part of Deaf Awareness Week, Sheffield Wire aims to highlight the barriers young deaf people face throughout their lives.
“We live in a communications era. If you can’t communicate very easily, you’re put at a disadvantage from the very beginning,” said Professor Kevin Munro, condemning tens of thousands of young people to remain unheard in a hearing world.
In schools, shrinking budgets for specialist support mean children with hearing loss achieve on average a grade lower in each subject those who aren't deaf.
Scarce audiology appointments limit young people’s access to communications technology.
Those people who do receive cochlear implants are struggling more and more to identify with their d/Deafness, existing in an isolated state between hearing and their own communities.
There are unfair and avoidable differences between the mental health services available to deaf and hearing people.
The British government does not fund any athletes at the Deaflympics unlike other countries, reducing access to deaf sports.
These early disadvantages impact people as they transition into later life. Deaf people are twice as likely to be out of work, which contributed to them being 1.3x more likely to die with Covid regardless of their age.
Work is being done to help the deaf community, though. Religious groups have worked hard to unravel the barriers deaf worshippers face to help them connect with faith.
Theatres and musical education are working to tackle sign language deprivation and engage young people in culture. Work like this has helped develop arts like BSL poetry.
But for the most part, deafness is hidden. Until we raise our awareness of the gaps in accessibility that still exist, it will remain hidden.
UK education system is failing deaf children, says charity
After widespread closures of specialist deaf schools, mainstream schools and councils have had to adapt learning environments to support the needs of more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK.
But with budgets being slashed and an increasing scarcity of resources, deaf education is facing neglect that 95% of teachers believe to be detrimental to the prospects of deaf children.
Deafness in itself is not a learning disability. This means with the right support, deaf children can - and do - achieve the same grades as their hearing peers.
Despite this, deaf pupils are on average 18 months behind their hearing peers, and achieve a grade less in each subject at GCSE.
Mike Hobday, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the National Deaf Children’s Society, says: “The overwhelming message from teachers across England is that the current system prevents them from helping deaf children to reach their full potential in school, which is a damning indictment.”
Integrated Units
Throughout the years, the number of specialist deaf schools has dramatically declined from over 100 to just 24. Shockingly, Wales does not have a single one, while options in the North and East of England are sparse.
This has left mainstream schools and councils responsible for integrating deaf education into standard learning environments. Integrated Units, such as those at Sheffield-based schools Lower Meadows Academy and Silverdale School, provide a lifeline.
Integrated Units are resource bases within mainstream schools which provide targeted support for deaf children. Funded by the Local Authority, specialist Teachers of the Deaf and signers provide bespoke lessons within the units that account for deaf children’s individual needs in subjects where additional communication is required.
The rest of the time, students are placed in mainstream lessons to enhance their independence and prepare them for later life in the hearing world.
Jane Dawtry, principal of Lower Meadows, says: “For any deaf children who can manage the demands of a mainstream school, I think this structure works really well for them because they get the best of both worlds. They get the support and they get to interact with hearing peers.”
However, the additional funding required to provide these services means they are restricted to children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This accounts for just 20% of deaf children - mainly those with an additional need alongside their deafness.
Mrs Dawtry explains: “Per pupil funding has not changed dramatically in an awfully long time, yet the costs of staff and buildings have risen. So what you end up losing is your teaching assistants.
“When children absolutely need to have that support, that’s where budgets get very tight. The government needs to invest a lot more in the per pupil amount as a starting point for every school.”
These budget constraints mean there is an average of just one Integrated Unit per 200 deaf pupils in the UK, according to the National Deaf Children’s Society. Many regions, disproportionately in the north, have none.
Teachers of the Deaf
Schools without Integrated Units are not unsupported thanks to the vital role of Teachers of the Deaf. Not only do they support children with interpretation, they also assist teachers in understanding how to communicate and adapt their classrooms to be more inclusive.
Linette France is a Teacher of the Deaf and the Integrated Resource Coordinator at Lower Meadows. As well as academic work, Ms France also suggests general changes to the school which benefit the deaf. Under her guidance, Lower Meadows installed sound dampeners to prevent noise reverberation, such as heavy rain on the roof, from disrupting those with a cochlear implant.
Ms France has found that the resources she uses to support deaf children also boosts the attainment of those with special needs. Using picture accompaniments with words and sign language can help autistic children process vocabulary, for example.
This is also true of non-native speakers. Ms France says: “Where their first language is not English, I have seen a massive turnaround in their English development because they've acquired English visually. It really is beneficial to everybody.”
Teachers of the Deaf can also educate hearing children to improve inclusivity with their deaf peers, such as through sign language lessons. Lower Meadows incorporates British Sign Language within their curriculum as an additional language.
Mrs Dawtry believes it has been a success story for inclusion, saying: “There are some children in the school who aren’t hearing impaired but can sign really well. When they get a certificate in assembly it’s really lovely, because all the children know that instead of clapping they need to sign.”
But for mainstream schools without Integrated Units, Teachers of the Deaf are not permanent members of staff, and are so stretched between locations that they are only available for a limited time each week. This means they cannot offer tailored advice and education at the same level as Ms France.
In Leeds, 1014 deaf children live in an area with just two specialist units and 12 Teachers of the Deaf. This is a ratio of one unit per 500 children and one Teacher of the Deaf per 83 children. As those on EHCPs are prioritised, some deaf students without these plans have no access to a Teacher of the Deaf at all.
There is also the issue of Teachers of the Deaf becoming scarcer, with a decline of more than 15% in England since 2011. More than half are due to retire in the next 10-15 years.
A skilled role which is pivotal in including deaf children in education and the hearing community could be at risk of extinction.
The Attainment Gap
The National Deaf Children’s Society says deaf young people are consistently failed by the education system. They believe the educational attainment of deaf children is causally linked to accessing bespoke resources, specifically Teachers of the Deaf.
But a lack of access to these specialist services, the curtailed budgets needed to provide them, and the concentration of help on only a select few deaf children shows the attainment gap that still needs to be breached, particularly in deprived areas.
The charity believes the government is condemning deaf children to underachievement. Mr Hobday, their Director of Policy and Campaigns, concludes: “Failing to [address this] will leave thousands of deaf children to struggle on alone.”