Support available to disabled students

Disability Services recommends adjustments to learning, teaching and exams. 

There are two levels of support available for disabled students. All are dependent on your disability and course requirements:

1. University adjustments

  • Exam access arrangements 
  • 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),
  • 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 within Disability Services who will provide ongoing disability advice during your time at Leeds.

Our Disability Coordinators have a range of specialisms, including autism, mental health, physical disabilities and specific learning difficulties.

2. Funded support

You may also access additional forms of support, either funded by the  Disabled Students’ Allowance (for eligible students), or our Support Worker Team (for those not eligible for funding). It might include: 

  • PA/Library support
  • Sighted Guide 
  • Note-taker 
  • Specialist Mentor  
  • One-to-One Specialist Study Skills and Strategy 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.
  • If your support is being provided by an external provider, such as DSA, you can arrange this by using the contact details on your funding letter.
  • If you’re unsure of anything, drop-in to talk to our team

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 covers short-term 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 possible, ideally at least seven working days in advance of the event. If your request for support is for within seven days, please contact Disability Services.

This fund is limited to 6.5 hours of support throughout the course of your studies.

Assistive Technology

Disability Services offer a variety of advice and training in assistive technology, including:

  • Screen readers
  • Speech-to-text
  • Productivity and organisational apps
  • Mindmapping
  • Accessibility tools 

Support available