Disability

If you're a student with a disability or health-related need and want support for your course, you need to submit a disability/health notification form with evidence of your condition(s).

We strongly advise you to do this early, ideally three months before you enrol on your course, as support can take time to set up.

Please read our advice guide about accessing disability support - this explains the process and what's acceptable evidence.

Once you've submitted your disability/health notification form and evidence, you're assigned an adviser who can talk you through the support available and write a student support plan for you.

We also recommend you apply for Disabled Students' Allowances through your funding body (if eligible), as this process can also take some time to complete.

Once you've submitted your disability/health notification form and supporting evidence, you're invited to a student support plan appointment with a disability adviser. Here your adviser discusses the impact of your condition on different activities you may need to do as a student, and the support available to help you.

Your adviser may want to discuss areas of activities with you that include (but aren't limited to):

• travelling to and from the University campus
• getting around campus
• accessing the library and managing your own study
• reading and research
• completing written assignments
• completing timed exams
• going to lectures
• organising yourself and managing your time
• presentations and group work.

Following your appointment, and if you give your consent, your adviser writes a student support plan which includes relevant information about your condition and the reasonable adjustments you are entitled to, so that staff are aware of how best to support you.

Examples of reasonable adjustments are:

• exam support arrangements such as extra time
• one-to-one support in and out of taught sessions
• a cover slip if you have specific learning difficulties to submit with your assignments to remind assessors to mark your work according to specific guidelines
• asking tutors to be aware of and facilitate any specific communication needs
• asking tutors to provide copies of lecture reading materials and PowerPoint slides in advance of sessions
• longer loans on library books.

Your student support plan is tailored to your individual needs and can be reviewed if your circumstances change. You can contact your adviser at any time for a review.

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) is support to cover the study-related costs you have because of a mental health problem, long-term illness or any other disability.

This can be on its own or in addition to any student finance you get.

The type of support and how much you get depends on your individual needs - not your household income.
More about the Disabled Students' Allowance and eligibility criteria

Once your funding body has accepted your Disabled Students' Allowance application and medical evidence, you get an approval letter asking you to arrange and attend a study needs assessment. This is a meeting between you and a qualified study needs assessor to identify what Disabled Students' Allowance-funded support and resources you need for your course.

This is external to your Teesside University London processes. Your adviser can guide you through the process. However, to check progress on an application or for other application advice, you must contact your funding body directly.

If you aren't eligible for Disabled Students' Allowance - for example if you're an apprentice or international student - you can discuss access to specialist, funded support in your student support plan appointment and, if appropriate, this can be arranged by the University directly.

Student support plan

Our team of advisers will contact you directly to arrange your student support plan appointment when you have registered with Disability Services and submitted your medical evidence.

Quick query appointments

A quick query appointment is a 20-minute, bookable appointment with a disability adviser. There are a limited number of quick query appointments available each weekday. These appointments are ideal for asking an adviser simple questions about setting up your disability support. These appointments are via Microsoft Teams or telephone.

Request a quick query appointment or email your query to studentlife@tees.ac.uk.

Student support initial assessments

An initial assessment is a 30-minute appointment with an adviser who specialises in mental health and autism. The appointment includes a holistic assessment of your needs to explore appropriate internal or external support. It includes talking about any difficulties you're experiencing related to your mental health or personal circumstances where you feel you need some additional support. Possible outcomes of the assessment may be:

• supporting you to connect with your GP
• referrals into NHS services
• referrals into specialist services, for example domestic violence, sexual assault, bereavement
• referrals to counselling
• referrals to sleep and lifestyle clinics
• liaising with other internal departments such as your academic school, finance, international, accommodation
• referring to the Students' Union
• accessing further appointments to develop strategies to manage anxiety and low mood
• self-help guidance.

To book a quick query or student support initial assessment, call 01642 342277 or email studentlife@tees.ac.uk

We recognise that you may have accessibility needs when attending an appointment. This includes, but isn't limited to, learning, communication and sensory difficulties as well as mobility, visual and hearing impairments. If you would like to discuss your particular requirements, please email studentlife@tees.ac.uk before your appointment and we can discuss any adaptations you may need to meet your individual needs.

A specific learning difficulty affects the way that information is processed and learnt. This can have an impact on literacy skills including understanding language in verbal and written form. It doesn't have an impact on overall intelligence. Examples include dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and specific language impairments.

The only way to confirm a specific learning difficulty is to have a full diagnostic assessment carried out by a qualified educational psychologist or specialist teacher. We contract psychologists from the Educational Guidance Service to carry out these assessments.

If you're unsure and need help to consider whether it's something you would like to arrange, please download and complete this adult dyslexia checklist. It's a simple indicator of whether you might be experiencing a dyslexic-type problem.

If you're sure you would like to request a diagnostic assessment from Teesside University London, you need to apply by completing our specific learning difficulty assessment application form.

If you're a Teesside University London applicant with an unconditional or conditional offer, you must provide us with some previous evidence to be eligible for an early assessment. This could be a previous specific learning difficulty assessment or a letter from your school or college detailing any support you may have had in place - such as extra time in your exams, one-to-one support or other adjustments. If you don't have previous evidence, you can still be assessed but you'll be placed on the waiting list and contacted once you've enrolled to arrange the assessment.

If you're not eligible for funding for an assessment (see the form for detailed eligibility criteria), you're able to choose to pay for an assessment yourself - either through the University or with an external provider. The assessment usually costs £250- £450.

If you have any questions about this, please email studentlife@tees.ac.uk.

What happens after your specific learning difficulties assessment?

After your assessment, you receive your results as a report. If your report indicates that you do have specific learning difficulties, you're invited to an appointment to arrange additional support for your course.

If you're waiting for your diagnostic assessment result, or if you've had the assessment and the outcome is that you don't have a specific learning difficulty, you can still access the support available to all students through the University's Learning Hub. And we have useful advice guides: Tools and Resources to Support Academic Writing.

Our service is confidential, which means that any information you provide us can only be seen by appropriate members of staff involved in helping you to access support.

We treat all information you provide sensitively. We may need to share information about you with others, within the University and sometimes outside. We only share information about you with your consent. But there are some exceptions where we may need to share information without your consent.

• If we're advised that we should share information by a medical professional.
• If you're considered at risk or a risk to others.
• If there's a concern about safeguarding children or vulnerable adults.
• If there's a legal requirement, for example at a court hearing.

Under the General Data Protection regulations, we're obliged to tell you how we collect and use your personal data. Enquiries and appointments with our services are tracked electronically and your personal data is stored in protected files. We hold this data to track your enquiry and our response for future reference, to enable us to support you in the most effective way. This personal information is retained for seven years before it's destroyed securely.

For more information, you can refer to the University's student privacy notice feedback and complaints.

If you would like to provide any feedback or make a complaint about the service you've received, please contact studentlife@tees.ac.uk.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, please refer to the information on our complaints page with the Office of Student Complaints, Appeals and Regulations