Providing your evidence

You must provide evidence of your disability to access support from Disability Services 

Information about evidence

We are required to work to consistent standards of evidence in order to register students with our Service.  We appreciate that it can be difficult to gather evidence from medical professionals, and we always encourage students to send us what they have so that we can advise further.  

However, please be aware that your support, exam adjustments and/or disability-related funding may be delayed if you do not have the correct evidence.  The simplest and quickest way to gather the correct evidence is to use the Disability Evidence Form, and we may ask you to go back to your medical professional to ask them to complete the form if the evidence you have provided previously is not sufficient.

Please be aware that you are responsible for providing suitable evidence to Disability Services.  We cannot complete your registration, or put in place exam arrangements or support, without sufficient evidence.  Please email your evidence to disability@leeds.ac.uk as soon as possible.  If you have provided evidence to other departments in the University, it will not be passed on to Disability Services without your consent, and you should re-send this to us.

What type of evidence do I need? 

The evidence required depends both on your disability and the level of support you are requesting. 

If you experience any problems obtaining evidence due to the pandemic, please email us on disability@leeds.ac.uk 

The University of Leeds disability evidence form

[Please note, this cannot be used as evidence for Specific Learning Difficulties]

If you do not already have suitable evidence from the list given above, the best way to gather the correct evidence is to ask your GP, Consultant or other medical professional to complete our Disability Evidence Form (Word).  This will enable us to capture the correct information to register you with our Service. You can also use the evidence form to apply for disability-related funding, such as Disabled Students’ Allowances.  

Download the form (Word).

Electronic evidence

In some cases we may be able to accept evidence which is held electronically, such as information from the NHS App or your GP’s Portal.  If you screenshot this evidence, the screenshot must also include identifying information, such as your name or date of birth.  If it does not show this information, you may be asked to come to a drop-in so that we can verify that the information belongs to you.

How do I check that the evidence I have is suitable? 

Our handy evidence checker will tell you the types of support you could access with the evidence you have. You may find it useful to check this first.

Your evidence must:

  • Be on official headed paper 
  • Signed by the medical professional, or someone acting on their behalf (‘p.p’)
  • Be as up to date as possible (this is not as vital if it is a long-term or life-long condition) 
  • Give a clear clinical/medical diagnosis of a disability that is likely to affect your ability to do everyday or academic tasks  
  • Clearly state that your disability is long-term (i.e. has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least 12 months)  
  • Indicate the impact your disability has on your daily life, particularly your studies 
  • Be written in English or be a formally certified translation 
  • Be sent to us directly either by email on disability@leeds.ac.uk or in person. It should not be sent to us via a third party, such as your GP