Support Available
The School of Advanced Study aims to enable all students to study at a level commensurate with their abilities and is developing its services in order to promote inclusion across the School. The School has nearly 300 students registered each year, with approximately 5% declaring disabilities. Lecture and seminar sizes are relatively small, and each of the nine Institutes in the School functions fairly independently, so that people know and support each other.
Our Disability & Student Wellbeing Adviser, Katie Wood, provides disability support for all students at SAS providing a safe, confidential and non-judgmental space in which students can discuss any issues that may be affecting your ability to study. All students who disclose a disability will be contacted by Katie at the point of acceptance to School of Advanced Study or when current students disclose a disability. Applicants are invited to contact Katie earlier if they would like to discuss any concerns or support needs they may have prior to this.
Please note the Disability & Student Wellbeing Adviser can also advise on any concerns prior to a formal diagnosis.
Reasonable adjustments and support
Services and support offered
The Disability & Student Wellbeing Adviser can offer advice, guidance and support in the following areas:
- Finding out if you have a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia
- Applying for funding through the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)
- Arranging DSA assessments of need
- Special arrangements in examinations and assessments
- Accessing loaned equipment (e.g. digital recorders)
- Specialist one-to-one "study skills" tuition
- Providing educational support workers (e.g. note-takers, readers, library assistants)
- Mentoring support for students with mental health issues and conditions on the autistic spectrum.
Please note this list is not exhaustive and only provides examples of support and adjustments.
Students and prospective students should contact the School as soon as possible to let us know about any support needs they may have so we can consider any relevant disability-related issues in good time. Alternative arrangements can be made for any interviews and/or entrance tests that may be necessary as part of the admissions process. Students requiring adjustments to examination arrangements for unseen examinations must make these known at least one month before the date of the examination.
In order to ensure that you receive adequate disability support and reasonable adjustments whilst you are studying with us, we would ask that you complete our Support Needs Form. The information given on the form will form the basis of a Support Agreement, which will be drawn up by the School’s Disability & Student Wellbeing Adviser.
The information provided will help us to establish the level of additional support needs that you might have as a result of your disability, and/or re-assess any support. The form should be completed at your earliest convenience. If you require to the form to be sent to you in a different format i.e. larger font etc. please contact us at student.wellbeing@sas.ac.uk.
Evidence
Before any support can be arranged, the School will require up to date evidence (no older than 2 years) of your disability or medical condition. This evidence can be from your GP, Consultant, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist etc. It is your responsibility to supply this. Ideally this must be returned with the Support Needs Questionnaire which will be sent to you at the point of offer.
Please remember your arrangements are not put in place automatically. You must take responsibility for this by initiating a discussion with the Disability & Student Wellbeing Adviser and providing the relevant evidence. Certain arrangements (such as arranging for a note-taker, study skills tutor etc.) can take time to put in place so the quicker you contact the School the better.
Support plan
All disabled students have the opportunity to have their needs clearly stated and a Support Plan drawn up between them and the School of Advanced Study. This will be done with the Disability & Student Wellbeing Adviser
We strongly advise students to take up this opportunity as this will mean that they will not have to rearticulate their needs to different staff members. We also believe that this arrangement will lead to an equitable level of support across the School and also help to maintain confidentiality.
Disabled Students' Allowances (DSA)
Home students and some EU students only, are eligible for the Disabled Students' Allowances (DSA).The DSA helps to pay for any extra costs or expenses that students incur attending their course that arise from their disability. The allowances are not means-tested and there is no age limit.
The DSA is administered by Student Finance England and the Disability and Wellbeing Adviser can assist students in applying for it, and can help to arrange the study needs assessment which is required to access the allowances. For further information please see the Disabled Students Allowance Guidance document.
Library Services
The Senate House Library and the Institute Libraries combined catalogue is available online with access for registered students to online research resources and journals. If you have a disability which affects your use of libraries, arrangements will be made for you to meet relevant library staff to discuss how best to help you. The Warburg Institute Library, in Woburn Square has ramped access, and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library, in Russell Square has ramped access and a lift access to all floors. The Institute of Historical Research library is in north block with lift access to all floors. The Institute of Classical Studies library on floor 3 of Senate House has lift access as do those collections associated with SAS institutes (Germanic, Romance, United States, Latin American, English, Commonwealth and Philosophy) are housed in the main Senate House library in Senate House, with lift access to the fourth floor. A fetching service is available for those collections on higher floors.
Further information is available at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library, Institute of Historical Research Library, and Senate House Library.
Senate House Library (SHL)
Access by lift is available to all major open-access areas. Staff assistance is made available to users where physical mobility is a problem. This includes assistance with wheelchairs, using computers, locating and fetching material, and photocopying. A postal service is offered for loanable texts and ordered photocopy offprints, the latter can be delivered as electronic attachments via e-mail. An e-mail enquiry service (senatehouselibrary@london.ac.uk) is available.
Transport
Most people access Senate House and the Bloomsbury area by public transport. Some disabled people living in the London area may be eligible for a London Transport Freedom Pass (www.freedompass.org) which allows free travel on public transport; the borough where you live will be able to tell you if you are eligible. There are a number of underground stations near to the School and many buses, but the streets and the transport tend to be crowded, and may pose some difficulties for some disabled people. Transport for London’s Access and Mobility unit has information about schemes such as Dial-a-Ride and Taxicard for subsidised door-to-door transport for people who have serious mobility impairment and difficulty in using public transport: www.tfl.gov.uk
Parking
Facilities Management Helpdesk, Senate House Reception: reception@lon.ac.uk
There are nine disabled parking spaces at Senate House. Only vehicles issued with a disabled permit will be eligible for parking in the designated disabled spaces. Disabled drivers should book a parking space 48 hours in advance, with details of the date and duration for which the space is required together with your vehicle details. Please make the Helpdesk operator aware if assistance will be required on arrival. Your details will be maintained on the Helpdesk database for future bookings. Your Student Administrator can help with contacting Facilities Management.
Emergency Evacuation
If you have a disability which might cause delay in recognising or responding to an emergency alarm a personal emergency evacuation plan will be agreed with the University Safety Officer. If your disability is likely to affect your ability to evacuate the building, we should notify your tutors of your evacuation plan, so that others know how to help you in an emergency.
Residential Accommodation
The School’s students are eligible to apply for accommodation in the University of London Intercollegiate Halls including: two of these (Canterbury Hall and Hughes Parry Hall in Cartwright Gardens) can provide for wheelchair users, and have street level entrances and modern lifts. All eight of them make specific provision for students with other disabilities, including those with sight and hearing difficulties, and restricted mobility. Wardens oversee the residences. Places at the Intercollegiate Halls are competitive and early applications for general places by March or April are advised, further places sometimes become available in late September. Dedicated rooms are kept free by the Halls for allocation to disabled students until the beginning of the academic year. Applications should be made via your Institute, once you have been offered a place, which will support your application. The University of London Accommodation Office (www.housing.lon.ac.uk) has a database of private accommodation for rent and can give advice on finding accommodation.