Support available for disabled students
Disability Services recommends adjustments to learning, teaching and exams.
Support is available for all disabled students, including degree apprentices and postgraduate researchers.
To set up your support:
We’ll contact you within a few weeks to confirm your registration and advise you of the next steps.
University adjustments
Disability Services can make recommendations for the following areas.
Academic schools then implement the recommendations. Please contact the disability contact for your academic school for support with implementation.
Exam access arrangements
These could include:
- extra time
- rest breaks
- seating requests
- timetabling requests.
Find out more about exam access arrangements.
Teaching and learning adjustments
These could include:
- submission flexibility – visit mitigating circumstances for more information
- permission to record lectures – visit information on personal recordings for guidance
- lecture materials in advance
- adjustments to lab or practical work, for example, familiarisation sessions, alternative furniture, adjustments for sensory issues
- consideration of flexibility around attendance requirements
- adjustments to oral presentations, for example, presenting to the tutor only or to a smaller group, pre-recording the presentation, extra time to present
- adjustments to group work, for example, limiting group size, assigning group members roles, agreeing ground rules
- consideration of the impact of your disability on written English in feedback you receive
- additional clarification of your understanding, for example, topics covering in teaching activities or assignment briefs
- guidance for postgraduate supervisors on how best to support you
- viva adjustments.
Placements
Reasonable adjustments on placements are not implemented automatically. You’ll need to discuss these with the placement provider, who is responsible for implementing adjustments.
If you require support with this, contact the placement team in your academic school. The disability contact for your academic school can help you find details for the placement team if you don’t know who to ask.
Additional support
This could include:
- access to private study areas in the library
- transcription services for alternative formats
- ongoing access to a specialist disability advisor or disability coordinator – find out how to contact the Disability Advisory team
- access to a dedicated disability contact in your school who will work with your lecturers to make sure your recommended adjustments are put in place.
Support with assistive technology
Disability Services offers free assistive technology, including:
- voice recognition
- screen readers
- speech-to-text
- voice recorders
- productivity and organisational apps
- mind-mapping tools
- note taking software
- proofreaders
- accessibility tools.
To access this support, please:
- book a one-to-one session with our assistive technology advisor.
- visit the assistive technology Sharepoint site to find out how to access technology, attend a webinar or ask questions.
- join LinkedIn Learning to find out more about assistive technology at Leeds.
Funded support
Additional forms of support could be funded by Disabled Students’ Allowance (for eligible students) or by the University.
To find out what you might be eligible for, visit funding for disabled students.
Your disability coordinator might also be able to request funding for specialist equipment for your exclusive use for the duration of your study.
Disabled Students’ Access Fund
The Disabled Students’ Access Fund covers short-term support for non-academic activities where no other funding is available. Visit funding for disabled students for more information.
Careers support
Read our careers support for disabled students page for information on how the Careers Service can help you with applying for jobs.
Contact us
Drop in to see us at Disability Services or arrange an online appointment to ask any questions about your support.