Students who are living with a disability, long term medical condition and / or mental health condition or who are carers of individuals with a disability are entitled under the Disability Discrimination Act (1996) to receive adjustments to support their inclusion in University studies.
The Equitable Learning Service (ELS) provides support to students to access educational adjustments via the development of the Equitable Learning Plan (ELP). The Equitable Learning Advisors are also available to provide support to Academic staff regarding the implementation of educational adjustments.
Each Faculty also has an appointed Academic Disability Advisor to assist with Faculty specific concerns related to the implementation of educational adjustments.
A list of Faculty Academic Disability Advisors is available here.
How does the Equitable Learning Service work?
An Equitable Learning Advisor meets with a student and develops an individualised learning plan (Equitable Learning Plan) based on the medical / professional information provided by the student. This plan may include:
- adjustments to study and assessment conditions.
- provision of course materials in alternative formats
- provision of enabling assistance staff – notetakers, participation assistants
- provision of captioning and or assistive technology.
The Equitable Learning Plan is provided to the students for distribution to their teaching staff in addition to being provided to Schools via the Disability Management System (DMS). Each Term, academic staff will receive an email notifying them of current ELS students and their adjustments. Staff should follow instructions contained within the email to ‘acknowledge’ receipt of adjustment information.
Who is eligible for support?
Any student who is living with a disability, long term medical condition and / or mental health condition or who is a carer of a person with a disability. This includes students with:
- Physical disability
- Sensory impairment – such as vision / hearing
- Learning disability
- Neurological condition
- Mental health condition
- Mobility impairment
- Chronic medical conditions
How do students register with ELS?
Students can register with the ELS through the website here
I have received an Equitable Learning Plan from a student, what now?
The plan provides a list of adjustments to be implemented. It is the responsibility of the Academic and / or School to implement educational adjustments that apply to the classroom setting and assessments (with the exception of formal examinations, which are managed by the Examinations team*).
If there are any queries or concerns about how the educational adjustments may be applied in a particular course, please contact the Equitable Learning Service to discuss with one of the advisors.
Provision of enabling staff such as Notetakers, Participation Assistants and Sign Language Interpreters will be undertaken by the ELS.
*the exception to this being T1, 2020 examinations. Please see Staff Guides below for information about this.