A students’ union has replaced clapping with jazz hands in a bid to prevent people suffering from anxiety or sensory issues.

The University of Manchester Student’s Union passed a resolution encouraging the practice at their first meeting of the year.

According to the student newspaper, Mancunion, they will use the British Sign Language alternative of jazz hands so that clapping is more inclusive.

The University of Manchester Students Union has passed a motion in favour of jazz hands (Picture: Getty)

They wrote: ‘It was argued that the loud noise of traditional clapping and whooping pose an issue to students with anxiety or sensory issues. BSL (British Sign Language) clapping – or, jazz hands – would be a more inclusive form of expression.’




Sara Khan, liberation and access officer, put the motion forward in a bid to ‘encourage student groups and societies to do the same, and to include BSL clapping as part of inclusion training.’

Motions need a 66 per cent majority to pass and it was reported that there was little opposition.

However a student appeared on Good Morning Britain denying that it is banned.

She said they are encouraging others to consider not clapping in order to accommodate two students with sensory issues, accessibility needs and autism.

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The newspaper noted that jazz hands have been widely used by the National Union of Students since 2015.

University of Durham students proposed a ban of clapping and whooping saying ‘access needs of disabled students are disregarded/overlooked in terms of conference member behaviour and NUS structures’.

They wanted ‘reduced cheering or unnecessary loud noises on conference floor, including whooping and clapping’ and for offenders to face ‘consequences’.

They added that they feared for the ‘safety and wellbeing’ of disabled students being compromised.

Manchester Students’ Union released a statement: ‘We are not banning audible clapping – we understand that some people may be more comfortable to continue using it. Nor are we applying this motion to all events held at the Students’ Union. The Union holds a huge number of events, including gigs, theatre productions and sport. This policy has no bearing on those events which make up the majority of a packed calendar at the Students’ Union.’

A previous version of this article characterised the motion passed by the Students’ Union as a ‘ban’ on clapping. Since publication the Union has issued a statement to say that the resolution was to encourage BSL clapping but was not intended to be interpreted as a ban on audible clapping. We are happy to clarify.