Support available to disabled students

Once you have registered with Disability Services, you will receive a support summary. 

It contains recommended adjustments for you and is based on your needs and course requirements. No two support packages are the same.

There are two levels of support available for disabled students. This document (Word) explains these differences.

1. University adjustments

  • Exam access arrangements 
  • Information provided to your academic school about adjustments during your studies
  • Receiving handouts and lecture slides in advance 
  • Access to private study areas in the library
  • Access to campus-based computers with assistive technology 
  • Workshops and advice from an Assistive Technology Advisor 
  • The loan of specialist equipment to support you in your studies 
  • Transcription services for alternative formats
  • Ongoing access to a specialist Disability Advisor or Disability Coordinator (see below), including daily drop-ins and longer guidance appointments
  • Access to a dedicated Disability Contact within your School. Your Disability Contact is a member of academic or support staff who will work with your lecturers to ensure that your recommended adjustments are put in place.
  • In some cases, personal recordings of lectures may be permitted. You can find out more about this in our guidance document (Word).

Disability Coordinators and Advisors

You will have access to a Disability Coordinator or Advisor working within Disability Services who will provide ongoing disability advice and support during your time at Leeds.

Our Disability Coordinators have a range of specialisms, including autism, mental health, physical disabilities and specific learning difficulties. Find out more about our team (Word).

2. Funded support

You may also be eligible for additional support, including specialist equipment, or one-to-one support from a non-medical helper. This comes from either our Support Worker Team or an external provider and is usually funded by your disabled students allowance or alternative. It might include: 

  • PA/Library support
  • Sighted Guide 
  • Note-taker 
  • Specialist Mentor  
  • One-to-One Study Skills support 
  • British Sign Language interpreter  

You may also be able to access:

  • Specialist equipment available for your exclusive use for the duration of your study

Your Disability Coordinator or Advisor can request funding for this.

Setting up funded support

If you have been allocated Support Worker/non-medical helper support from the University of Leeds and would like to start accessing this, please email the Support Worker Team on supportworkerteam@adm.leeds.ac.uk. If your support is being provided by an external provider, you can arrange this by using the contact details on your funding letter.

The Support Worker team student handbook (PDF) provides more detail about this type of support.

The Disabled Students’ Access Fund

The Disabled Students Access Fund is open to applications from current disabled students. The fund covers, where possible, short-term Personal Assistant support for non-academic activities where no other funding is available. This might include:

  • Support registering with essential facilities such as a bank or a doctor’s surgery
  • Providing someone to accompany you to an on-campus club or society for the first time
  • Support to participate in an activity that is relevant to your course of study where reasonable adjustments by the provider will not fully address your support needs

Please submit your request as soon as you can but, where possible, at least seven working days in advance of the event. If your request for support is within seven days, please complete the form as soon as possible and contact Disability Services. You can do this by emailing supportworkerteam@leeds.ac.uk or phone 0113 343 3927.

Please note, this is a limited fund and we can generally provide up to 6.5 (six and a half) hours of PA support throughout a student’s studies. Support is dependent on staff availability.

To apply for this funding, please complete the short form. 

You can read more about the Disabled Students Access Fund here