Each academic year, we welcome a diverse community of students, many of whom have difficulties that require support. The Disability Support Team works with you to arrange reasonable adjustments and remove any barriers to learning that may arise due to your conditions.
When students enrol on Higher Education-level courses, they are legally considered as adults, so it is vital that you disclose your disabilities, neurodiversities, mental health conditions, and long-term health conditions (lasting, or likely to last 12 months+) in order to request reasonable adjustments. By disclosing your difficulties to us, any individual reasonable adjustments to teaching/assessments that you may require to access your course fully can then be agreed and organised at the earliest point possible.
FAQs
You can disclose any disability/condition and request reasonable adjustments using My Portal in the My Disability Support section, which prospective and enrolled students can access throughout their studies. This gives you the opportunity to tailor your own support information for relevant course staff to be aware of, and adjust for.
Please upload supporting information/evidence to help us enact your individual support and put any required Alternative Assessment Arrangements in place for you in the shortest possible timescale. Documents provided are often diagnostic reports, medical letter or support you had in school/college.
However, students who are eligible for UK Student Funding can access our Disability Support: Supporting Information for ‘Home-Funded’ Students guide here, showing details on what you can provide on the referral form to support your reasonable adjustments request. We also included some details in this document advising on what evidence Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) may ask you to provide when applying for the grant.
International students can access our similar Disability Support: Supporting Information for International Students guide here.
Alternative Assessment Arrangements are adjustments put in place for students who have disclosed and evidenced their difficulties to us, helping to ensure that a level-playing-field is maintained for all students at University Centre Leeds. Alternative Assessment Arrangements are tailored to your individual requirements, but for context, some examples of this type of adjustments could be (but are not limited to) extensions to assignment deadlines and additional time to complete timed assessments.
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is a government grant providing funding towards support depending on your individual requirements, such as (but not limited to); assistive technology, 1-2-1 Specialist Mentoring, 1-2-1 Study Skills support, printing costs, travel costs. DSA is not a loan, is not means-tested, and you do not have to pay it back.
If you are not a ‘Home-funded’ student, please contact the student finance bodies from your home country to enquire about the support options and funding available to you
We recommend that eligible students apply for DSA as soon as they have accepted their offer of study, which helps to ensure support is in place as early as possible.
Applying for DSA is simple and can be completed through the online portal for Student Finance England (SFE), Student Finance Wales (SFW) and Student Finance Northern Ireland (SFNI), with paper forms available on the same links. The video we have provided for you below shows the online application process for SFE (which also helps with SFW and SFNI, who use similar systems).
For Scottish applicants using SAAS, you can refer to the application guide on their website.
Although we are not a part of the DSA application/approval process, we have provided some details on what evidence they are likely to require from you during your application in our Disability Support: Supporting Information for ‘Home-Funded’ Students guide here.
DSA will ask you to meet with an independent Study Needs Assessor after accepting your application, in order to tailor a support package for you. Although Study Needs Assessors aim to offer you the support needed as an individual, email disability@UCLeeds.ac.uk for advice on what you may be offered, and what you may want to ask for during your Needs Assessment.
We offer diagnostic screenings for Dyslexia, Dyspraxia (DCD) and ADHD traits if formal diagnosis has not been undertaken before. Screenings can be accessed by both enrolled students and applicants who have accepted an offer of study with us. Further diagnostic testing may be available depending on your screening results, but please note that applicants will not be offered further testing until after enrolling with us.
Unfortunately, UCLeeds cannot screen for Autism Spectrum Conditions (ACS), as this has to be completed by a medical professional.
If you wish to seek a medical diagnosis for ASC, you can explore the following routes:
- Through your GP
- Through a local self-referral service, such as LADS in Leeds
- Through a private medical practitioner
You may find that a pre-diagnostic questionnaire is useful for exploring autism. These are screening tools and do not constitute medical diagnosis. A widely used pre-diagnosis questionnaire is the Autism Quotient-50.
Accessibility is integral to learning and teaching at UCLeeds, which helps to ensure that every student has the opportunity to engage with their studies fully. Therefore, learning materials are shared in advance of teaching and audio recordings are permitted to name some examples of this. The curriculum-based Study Skills support can offer all students support to enhance their academic skills through an array of sessions, accompanied by resources, tools and tips on their Blackboard page (our intranet).
You can refer in for either Health & Wellbeing or Occupational Therapy by filling out the Student Support Referral Form during undergraduate term-time to access support with your wellbeing or engagement whilst you study. However, please note that they do not offer a crisis or out-of-hours support services, so if you feel you need urgent support, please click the link that follows for crisis services available in the Leeds area, found under the Do you offer urgent or out-of-hours support? dropdown option: ucleeds.ac.uk/student-support/health-and-wellbeing/
All students can take advantage of the assistive technology automatically available to them after enrolment passes, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. Through your UCLeeds Microsoft 365 account you receive upon enrolling with us, you can access the Microsoft accessibility features to support your learning.
Please email Disability@UCLeeds.ac.uk if you have any questions, or to:
- discuss your disability/condition
- discuss your support/reasonable adjustments request
- discuss a DSA application
- provide additional supporting information/evidence
- request our referral form or information in an alternative format
University Centre Leeds has a modern, fully accessible campus with lift access to all floors. Further details about the campus and support arrangements can be requested by emailing Disability@UCLeeds.ac.uk.
Please find the screen-reader-friendly list of links that follow if you have had any difficulties accessing the in-text links on this page.
My Portal (to disclose disabilities and request reasonable adjustments): https://sitslivelc.luminate.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_lgn
Disability Support Blackboard site:
TBC
Student Support Referral Form (to refer for Health and Wellbeing support): https://ucleeds.ac.uk/student-support/student-support-referral-form/
Diagnostic screenings for enrolled students: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/85c7a1b73d684d41947294e54625874a
Diagnostic screenings for applicants: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/53f5a218bcd74c569fce852d36f2a14c
Disability Support Team email: Disability@UCLeeds.ac.uk
Student Finance England (SFE): https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas
Student Finance Wales (SFW): https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/undergraduate-finance/full-time/welsh-student/what-s-availabl%E2%80%A6
Student Finance Scotland (SFNI): https://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk/types-of-finance/postgraduate/tuition-fee-and-extra-help-student%E2%80%A6
Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS): https://www.saas.gov.uk/guides/disabled-students-allowance
