The Disability Advisory Service (DAS) provides information, advice and guidance to current students and applicants who register with our service due to a disability, specific learning difference, long-term medical or mental health condition. 

We can assess a students individual circumstances and create an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) in order to maximise the academic experience.

It’s important that applicants register with the Service (DAS) as soon as they accept an offer with us, and definitely before A-Level results day on August 15th.  The full range of tailored individual adjustments won’t be automatically put in place without registering first.  Ticking the disability box on the UCAS application is not enough.  

Applicants coming to Reading through insurance choices or clearing are advised to register with DAS as soon as they accept the offer and by September 15th at the latest.

Students can register with DAS at any time, but registering ASAP and by the above deadlines is necessary to ensure adjustments are implemented for first semester exams.

For further information about our service and how we support students on Essentials.

It's important that students register with DAS as soon as they accept an offer with us, and definitely before they arrive (or as early as possible) in order for the team to have adequate time to assess their individual requirements.  Please encourage any student in your care to make this their priority when confirming an offer of study with us.  Registration and reasonable adjustments.

What we can do:
• we create Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) for disabled students, which reflect their reasonable adjustments, and adaptations to teaching, learning, and exam arrangements
• advise teaching staff on reasonable adjustments and how to support students in their studies
• advise students on applying for funding through Disabled Students Allowances
• write supporting statements for exceptional circumstances requests
• liaise with other teams within the University, such as Support Centres, Accommodation, and Academic colleagues
• following a change in students’ circumstances, we can provide advice, or re-assess a student's learning needs at any time if they proactively reach out to us to book a follow-up 


What we cannot do:
• we do not provide ongoing one-to-one appointments with students, though we are able to support students in accessing a mentor (where eligible)
• as part of our privacy policy, we cannot routinely contact parents/carers

Transition to university:

During the welcome period, we run a calendar of events, opportunities and activities designed to give new students the best possible introduction to University life and help them settle into the academic year.

Study Smart, is a free online course which we’ve created especially for all of our new undergraduate students.  Study Smart will help applicants prepare for study at the University of Reading, which is likely to be different to any previous studies at school, college or in their home country.

Assisting students with feelings of homesickness or loneliness:

We know that students sometimes need a helping hand with settling into University and sometimes reach out to academic staff for guidance.  Here are some of the initiatives and activities designed just for those new to the community:

Star Mentors – all new UG students are automatically allocated a STaR mentor usually from their own School. New International PG students can request one.

Student Life Events programme is designed to help students meet like-minded others. It is bursting with all sorts of events so encourage your students to make the most of these sessions 

Reading Students' Union Student Activities (sport, dance, societies, volunteering, events etc.)

Student Minds advice for new starters.

Preparing for student life - guidance from the charity Mind 

New starters are given access to a specific app during Welcome to help them select and organise the perfect introduction for them.  Welcome schedule confirmed over summer.

Communicating with us:

As adults, we expect students themselves to primarily communicate with us about their support needs and adjustments. 

As disability specialists, we do understand how worrying it can be helping your loved one  settle into university, and that you may have questions or concerns about their welfare.   We would always suggest in the first instance contacting the student themselves to discuss with them how they are faring.   

DAS does not hold information on a student’s academic progress, or welfare in general, and our role is limited to putting in place appropriate reasonable adjustments for the student.  We are also constrained by privacy laws in terms of data sharing with parents/carers.  However, we realise that some students rely on input from their parents/carers, particularly at the start of their time with us, and in some cases wish to invite parents/carers to their appointment with us, or to remain copied into initial correspondence where there are particularly difficult issues to resolve. Where consent is given by the student, we may be able to share limited information with parents/carers, where we have the information available.  

Consent:

The University is subject to data protection laws which mean that (save in the case of exceptional circumstances where significant risk of serious harm is identified), we cannot speak to parents/carers unless we have specific and informed consent from the student. Please see our Student Privacy Notice which sets out how we deal with students’ personal data.

DAS may speak to parents/carers on the request of the student (once the student has provided informed consent), but this would be limited to discussing setting up learning adjustments for the student, (this tends to be at the start of their course or before joining us).  The team cannot commit to ongoing dialogue with parents/carers outside of this.

Parents/carers will also not get updates from the academic School as to a student’s academic progress, and it is the responsibility of the students to decide to what extent they wish to keep their support network outside of university updated as to their progress.

We have a zero-tolerance policy on all abusive or aggressive behaviour towards us.  Any student complaints should be directed to our Complaints procedure.

The Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) is government funded financial support for students enrolled on a University course with a declared disability or long-term health condition (including mental health).

• Further information on eligibility and application details from GOV.UK

• Further information and guidance from the Disability Advisory Service (DAS).

You may need to assist a student with their applications.  DAS also provide the following self-help guides:

• Disability Advisory Service guide to: Disabled students’ allowances
• Video: Disabled Students Allowance Guidance University of Reading
• Step-by-step instructions on applying for DSA
• More information about DSA funding
• Understanding your DSA letter

It is a students’ responsibility to apply for their own Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) funding, and to remember to re-apply if necessary (this usually rolls over to the next year, but not always, for example if there has been a break in studies, or change in mode of study, so it is worth checking with DSA). This can also vary depending on where you live, for example the rules are different in Scotland and Wales. 

The Disability Advisory Service are available to give advice or assist with claims for DSA on request by students, should they wish. The student will need to contact us to arrange an appointment. As a service as we are not resourced to provide reminders to students, although we do have a range of guidance on our website that should help in navigating the DSA process, or understanding your DSA eligibility letter (UK).

We may be able to assist with other funding, such as the DSA £200 laptop contribution, where the household income is below a certain threshold, or a small contribution towards accommodation fees, where a student has disability related accommodation needs.  Students should be directed to our essentials pages or may contact us for more information.

The University also has a range of other financial support available, including advice on Student Loans, Money Health Check, and information on Bursaries or Awards. 

The Disability Advisory Service is not involved in student grades, or informing students of a change to their status, such as suspension from study. Our role is to work with students initially in setting up their Individual Learning Plan (ILP), and conveying this to the academic teams to assist with implementation as appropriate. We are unable to offer ongoing one-to-one advice and guidance sessions, or academic support to students.  Academic support is provided by  a student’s Academic Tutor. We may, however be  able to advise on finding specialist mentors (where considered a reasonable adjustment), and can discuss with a student access to a range of peer mentoring programmes which the University runs.

Should you wish to know more about the progress the student is making in their studies, we recommend speaking to them directly.  Students have access to the Student Progress Dashboard offering information on completed and outstanding assessments, a measure of progress and how this attainment compares to the goals that students can (optionally) set for themselves.

Look After Yourself at University Guide – covering all aspects of life at University. 

Wellness checker – our online self-help tool to guide you. 

Self help guides - topics include anxiety, depression & low mood, alcohol, stress, sleeping problems, social anxiety, panic, self-harm, bereavement and others  

Life Tools - is a programme of talks designed to help students with university life and manage the normal stresses and strains encountered in life. 

Student Space – is run by the Charity Student Minds and provides one-to-one support specifically to students by phone, email, text or webchat. 

Report & Support - In response to the findings of the Sexual Violence and Harassment Review and the Race Review we have launched Report & Support which is an online tool for staff, students to report issues of harassment, bullying, sexual misconduct, racism, hate crimes, and other problematic behaviours. Users can report with their name and details to receive support from the University, or they can report anonymously.  

Wellbeing videos - We have worked with students to create a series of themed videos around looking after yourself and covering a common range of topics students may be facing.

If the student you care for is disabled, it is really important that they speak to the Disability Advisory Service as soon as possible (and ideally before they start their course), to ensure that any adjustments or adaptations and support that they require can be considered, and where deemed reasonable by the University, are put in place early on, to ease their transition to University life. 
It is important that all prospective students read and fully understand what is expected of them on their chosen course, including any costs, the level of challenge on the modules, any anticipated practicals, equipment, field trips or placements, living arrangements, and the expectation to attend. If the student you care for has any additional needs which might impact their ability to fully engage with their studies, it is vitally important that these are discussed during the application process, to ascertain the level of support that may need to be considered.

Like any organisation, we are required to consider students’ reasonable requests for adjustments. It is important to remember, however, that not everything a student may wish for will be considered a reasonable adjustment and the University may refuse a request for an adjustment on the basis of it being unreasonable. 

To help students understand the Disability Process end-to-end, we have some useful guides on our website, including the Reading Disability Process document which should answer most questions about how to get adjustments and funding in place. You can browse all of our guides on our Essentials pages under Helpful Resources.

Students will be asked when they complete their UCAS application if they have a disability. This is for Government statistics and not a request for university support. It is the responsibility of the student to reach out and register with the Disability Advisory Service in order for the full range of tailored reasonable adjustments to be put in place. Ticking the UCAS box alone, is not enough. As stated above, we recommend disabled students do this as soon as they accept an offer with us.

Students will be expected to provide some supporting documentation when they request reasonable adjustments. We encourage students to use our Supporting Documents Checker Form, to find out what they will need to provide.

Additional support teams are available to students:

The Halls Welfare team can be contacted for any issues relating to life in Halls (by email, phone or in-person). This is a new team of dedicated Wardens and Hall Mentors to facilitate community building as well as provide pastoral support and discipline in Halls.

The Student Welfare Team for issues impacting on their lives which they would like some guidance on (by email, phone or in-person, daily drop-in or appointment) 

The Counselling and Wellbeing Team if they feel they need the support of a professional Counsellor (in-person by appointment only, following initial assessment) 

Student Support Coordinators are available for any course related questions, such as your modules, essay submissions, or exceptional circumstances.

Reading Students' Union Advice Centre  is open10am-4pm and runs a daily drop-in .  Email advice@rusu.co.uk

The Student Financial Team can help with general financial queries and support with the cost of living.  The Digital Support Fund is a support fund to help students with the associated costs of online learning and study.  Blackbullion offers courses and advice on how students can manage their money when at University. 

If a student is in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or needs help urgently, these organisations offer support:  
 
For immediate wellbeing support or financial advice - students can access University of Reading’s 24-hours student support line by calling free on 0800 023 2466.  The service can also be accessed using the Health Assured app.

For concerns about mental health:

• Text the word ‘SHOUT’ to 85258 SHOUT off a free, confidential, 24-hour mental health text service. 
• The Samaritans, 24-hour helpline call: 116 123 
• NHS Counselling Service
• Suicide prevention  
• No.5 Reading based free counselling (for young people age 10-25) 
• Berkshire NHS Mental Health Crisis Team (emergency contact for mental health, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), call: 0800 129 9999  or go to I need help now!

For concerns about health a student can:

• NHS Direct (24hr support for other non-urgent medical advice) call: 111 
• For medical emergencies only, dial 999 on your phone, and ask for ambulance
• Ring your GP for other urgent medical issues. If you are registered with the University Medical Practice, call: 0118 987 4551 
• In an emergency, call University Security Service: +44 (0)118 378 6300