Student Wellbeing Services service agreement and privacy notice

Before registering for support, please read the following information. It explains what you can expect from Student Wellbeing Services, how we work together, and how we protect your privacy.

By registering for support, you acknowledge that you have read this information. We may also discuss relevant aspects of our working agreement with you when we begin working together.

1. Using Student Wellbeing Services

Student Wellbeing Services provides support to students experiencing personal, emotional, relational, mental health or other difficulties that may affect their wellbeing, studies or wider University experience.

We aim to provide a confidential, respectful and inclusive space where you can explore what is affecting you and consider what support might help.

2. Your privacy and personal information

To provide and manage support, we keep a confidential record of our contact with you. This may include:

information provided when registering for support
appointment and attendance details
relevant questionnaires and assessments
information you share during appointments
professional notes made by practitioners.

Your information is stored securely, and access is restricted to people who need it for their role.

Records are used to support the delivery, continuity and professional quality of our work, in line with applicable data protection requirements and University policies.

We may also use anonymised and aggregated information to understand demand, evaluate our work, improve Student Wellbeing Services and inform service reporting. Information used in this way is processed in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

The University of Leeds is the data controller for your personal information. The University’s Student Privacy Notice explains how your personal information is collected and used, the lawful bases for processing, how long information is retained, and your rights under data protection law.

You can contact the University’s data protection officer if you have questions about how your information is processed.

3. Confidentiality

We understand that confidentiality is important when seeking support.

Information you share with Student Wellbeing Services is treated confidentially, subject to the following limits. To provide safe and effective support, practitioners may need to discuss aspects of your situation with appropriate colleagues within Student Wellbeing Services. Such discussions are limited to what is necessary to support your care and professional practice.

We will not routinely share your personal information, including details of your attendance, with family members, friends, academic staff or other University departments without your agreement.

There are limited circumstances in which information may need to be shared without your consent. These may include where:

there is a serious concern about your safety or the safety of another person
there are safeguarding concerns that require action
disclosure is required by law or is otherwise lawfully justified.

Where appropriate and safe to do so, we will discuss the situation with you and explain what information may need to be shared, with whom and why. In some circumstances, it may not be possible or appropriate to do this beforehand.

4. Working with other services

Sometimes, additional support from another University team, healthcare provider or external organisation may be helpful.

Where we propose an onward referral or sharing information to help arrange or coordinate your support, we will normally discuss this with you and seek your specific agreement before sharing information.

If you ask us to share information with an academic school or another University service, for example to support a mitigating circumstances request, we will discuss what information is relevant and agree the details with you.

There may be circumstances in which information can or must be shared without your agreement, as explained in the confidentiality section.

5. Records, access and retention

You have rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you, including the right to request access to your records and, where applicable, to request correction, erasure or restriction of processing.

These rights are subject to conditions and exceptions under data protection law. We cannot guarantee that every request to amend or delete information can be fulfilled, and withdrawing consent does not necessarily require us to delete information where another lawful basis for retaining or processing it applies.

Records are retained in accordance with the University's approved records retention requirements and applicable legal and professional obligations.

For further information about your rights or to make a data protection request, please contact the University’s data protection officer through the University’s data protection website.

6. Questionnaires and feedback

We may invite you to complete questionnaires or feedback forms to help us understand your needs, monitor the support offered and improve Student Wellbeing Services.

Some questionnaires may help practitioners understand your difficulties or review your progress, others may ask about your experience of the service. We will explain the purpose of relevant questionnaires as appropriate.

Feedback about your experience is valued and helps us improve our work. Choosing not to provide optional feedback will not affect your ability to raise concerns or make a complaint.

7. Concerns and complaints

We want you to feel able to raise any concerns about the support you receive.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of Student Wellbeing Services, you can:

Making a complaint will not affect your ability to access support.

8. Working together respectfully

We are committed to providing a welcoming, inclusive and supportive environment for all students.

We ask everyone using Student Wellbeing Services to treat staff and others with dignity and respect, communicate appropriately and follow relevant University policies and regulations. If difficulties arise in working together, we will aim to address these fairly and constructively.

Further information

If you have questions about this agreement, confidentiality or how we work, please email Student Wellbeing Services at studentwellbeing@leeds.ac.uk.