What to expect from us
If you are a disabled student and need the University to make some adjustments or provide you with support, please get in touch with us. We will make an appointment for you to see a Disability Adviser to discuss your needs.
Registering with us
To register for support, you need to provide us with medical evidence such as a doctor or consultant’s letter or other evidence such as an Educational Psychologists report.
Please bring any evidence that you have along to your first appointment with your Disability Adviser.
Your Disability Adviser will assess your evidence and talk to you about any adjustments that the university might need to make to ensure that you are supported and not disadvantaged for disability related reasons.
If you don’t have any evidence but would still like to access support, a Disability Adviser will be able to advise you about what to do next.
Assessing your needs and developing your Learner Support Profile (LSP)
Once you have registered with the Disability Service, your Adviser will assess what support and adjustments you might need in different University settings, for example:
- in lectures and seminars
- in the Library
- in exams
- on placement
- with the Career and Employability Service
The reasonable adjustments that you agree with your Adviser will depend on the impact of your impairment in different University settings. Once you have agreed the adjustment, they will be recorded electronically on your LSP and circulated to all the relevant people in the university. For example, if you are hearing impaired and you need to lip read in lectures, your LSP will be sent to all of your lecturers to explain that they need to face you when they are talking.
Your LSP is created on your electronic student record, in the Disability Service and once it is circulated it can be read on a platform called EVision by staff in the relevant areas.
Once your LSP has been completed, you will be asked to read it and agree it. By agreeing your plan you are also giving consent for the information to be shared with other relevant staff in the university, so you need to make sure that you are happy to share all of the information in the plan.
Sharing information and confidentiality
Confidentiality statement
The Disability Service is committed to providing a professional support service for disabled students. All students who access our services have a right to confidentiality in order that their interests are protected in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.
The Disability Service will not share any information relating to your disability without your consent, except in very rare and exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances might be where:
- there is an immediate and serious threat to personal safety
- there is an immediate and serious threat to the safety of others
- there is a legal requirement to disclose that information
- there are serious concerns about your mental well-being
- or where professional fitness to practice may be compromised
Where possible the Disability Service will always try to discuss sharing information with you before taking any action. The Disability Service will not share any information about you with your parents or carers without prior written consent.
Sharing information
We encourage all students to share disability related information with the University as soon as possible so that support needs can be identified and reasonable adjustments can be made.
There are opportunities to share disability related information on UCAS and University application forms, by ticking a box. If you have chosen not to share at this stage, you can do so at any time during your studies, by contacting the Disability Service or any other member of University staff.
Once you have shared disability related information with us, we have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments and provide support that makes sure that you are not disadvantaged for disability related reasons.
However, there is no requirement for us to give details about your impairment to anyone else. The important thing is the adjustment. So you can request that we don’t include details or name your impairment on your LSP if you don’t want to share this information with the wider University.
How can I complain about an aspect of my study coach experience?
Please read the word document below.
- How to Complain About an Aspect of Your Study Coach Experience (pdf)
- University Student Complaints (requires your student login details to access)