As soon as you get in touch with us, you will be assigned a Student Support Adviser to help you with any disability related queries. They will let you know about the support on offer to disabled students and discuss your options with you.

You can contact your Student Support Adviser by phone, email and in person.

We also run a daily term time drop in between 12.00pm and 13.00pm. There’s no need to make an appointment for the drop-in, just come to the Wellbeing and Disability Services Reception in the Student Centre (Level 4, Central Services Building).

Your Student Support Adviser will work with you in getting the right support in place. This may involve applying for the Disabled Students’ Allowance or making arrangements for support directly from the University. To do this, we will require some evidence of your disability. The evidence needs to explain how your disability impacts on your daily life and how long you have had or are likely to have the disability. The evidence can be written by any of the following people:

• Your GP.
• A Specialist such as a mental health practitioner, an audiologist or a practitioner based in a clinical or hospital department.
• An Educational Psychologist - this is for students who have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia. The Educational Psychologist Assessment report must have been produced after your 16^th birthday.

Please pass a copy of your evidence to the Disability Support Service and we’ll let you know where to go from here. With your permission, we share information with University staff and external organisations so that we can get the support in place.

The Disabled Students’ Allowance is a non-means tested Government allowance that can be used to cover any additional academic costs that you may incur as a result of your disability.  DSA can be awarded to full and part time undergraduate students and some postgraduate students.  The application involves a number of stages and your Student Support Adviser can help you through the process.  A key stage of the process is the Assessment of Needs.  The Assessment of Needs is an opportunity for you to meet with a trained assessor to discuss the demands of your course and your support requirements. The assessor will then produce a written report that will contain recommendations about the support you need and also give guidance to the University on how we can help you get the most from your studies.

If you’re not eligible for DSA?

Some of you may not be eligible for DSA, for example if you are an international student or you are not studying enough credits to qualify for the allowance. Don’t worry, you can still get the same support as those students who have DSA.

Please get in touch and provide evidence to us of your disability. We will meet with you to discuss your support requirements and how we can meet your needs.

There are various assistive technologies spread across the University to help you with your studies.  Every computer in the Library and Computing Service area has TextHelp and Inspirations installed.  These are software programmes can be put on computers anywhere on campus on request.  TextHelp is a language programme that is especially useful for dyslexic students. Inspirations is a mind mapping tool and is really good for essay and revision planning.  In addition, there is a wide range of other equipment across the campus including ergonomic furniture, deaf alerters, ergonomic keyboards and mice and a Braille embosser.

The Disability Support Service operates a loan of equipment service.  We have laptops and digital recorders which are available for you to borrow.  Please get in touch if you would like more information about this.

You may be recommended a support worker (sometimes referred to as a non medical helper). If so, the Disability Support Service has a range of different support workers. These include:

• Dyslexia tutors.
• Study Mentors.
• Note takers.
• Campus support - assistance in getting around the campus and using facilities.
• Library Support.
• Research assistance.
• Study Buddy - assistance to settle in to University and student life.
• British Sign Language Interpreters.
• Teacher of the Deaf.

We also arrange exam support workers such as amanuensis (scribe), readers and prompters. We coordinate this support with your academic school.

As a disabled international student studying at Huddersfield, you will have access to the same provision as students from theUK.  Although you will not be eligible to apply for the Disabled Students’ Allowance, your Student Support Adviser will work with you to identify what support you need, and to ensure that the support is put in place.

We have an on going programme of improvements to buildings and facilities. Whether you are based at Huddersfield, Barnsley or Oldham, there facilities include: accessible toilets, voice announcement lifts, induction loop systems and personal care equipment.

The campus at Huddersfield has an accessibility route map.

We will notify your academic department if you require level access to teaching rooms, height adjustable desks, specific seating arrangements etc.

 If you require parking on the Queensgate campus, the Disability Support Service may be able to supply you with a parking permit. There is an application form that you are required to fill in and this is available from us on request.

If you have a local authority issued blue badge, you will be able to park in any of the available accessible bays. If you are not a blue badge holder, you can still apply and you may be able to park in other bays across the campus. 

If you require parking facilities at Oldham orBarnsley, please contact the Student Support Services at the relevant campus.

Disabled students have the same opportunities as non-disabled students when undertaking work based learning or placements. Some of you may require some additional support or adjustments before and during the placement which we will discuss with you. Examples of the support include:

• Support to write the application letter or to produce a CV.
• Arranging a placement close to your home or with good links to accessible public transport.
• Ensuring that you can access the work placement using ramps, height adjustable desks, push pads on doors, accessible toilets etc.
• Making specialist equipment and software available - e.g. screen reading software, speech to text software, magnification software, adapted mouse or keyboard, use of a digital recorder etc.
• Making changes to working hours such as working less days each week to complete the placement over a longer time period or altering start or finish times.
• Providing a support worker such as a British Sign Language Interpreter.

We strongly encourage you to disclose your disability to your placement provider. This will ensure that you can fully demonstrate your skills and abilities. We will not pass information about your disability to the placement provider without your permission and there may be options to partially disclose your disability.

 For more information about this, please see the Disabled students' guide to placement support .

We in the Disability Support Service work closely with our colleagues across the academic schools and other services.  When your requirements have been identified, your Student Support Adviser will produce a Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP) for you.  The PLSP is a document that outlines very clearly what your support requirements are and who is responsible for implementing them.  Copies of the PLSP are sent to you and the people in the University who will be providing your support. In the academic school it is the disability coordinator who lets the staff know about your support. Each school has one or more disability coordinator.  In the Library and Computing Services, we link with the Library Disability Officer.

The PLSP is a flexible document and the recommendations made can change depending on your circumstances and the demands of your course.  Some of the areas most commonly covered by a PLSP are teaching and learning situations, support worker provision, exams adjustments, coursework/on going assessments, field trips, laboratory work and emergency evacuation plans. 

If you require personal care with day to day living such as washing, dressing, cooking and shopping, we would advise you to contact us as soon as possible.  The University works with an organisation called Community Service Volunteer (CSV).  This organisation provides community service volunteers, know as CSV’s.  The CSV’s live alongside you in your student accommodation, working on a rota to provide your personal support.  We have a co-ordinator for this service who can offer information about the service, discuss your requirements and offer continual support for the duration of your studies.