Disability support

DISABILITY SERVICES AT BCU.

[00:00:07] Speaker 1 With over 4,000 disabled students at BCU, we're very experienced in supporting you. Amongst the support you will get will be reasonable adjustments to your teaching and assessments and help applying for disabled students' allowances, which is funding from the UK government.

[00:00:25] Speaker 2 The definition of disability is wide. It includes physical and sensory disabilities, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and ADHD, autism, mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression, and long-term health conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy, to name just a few.

[00:00:42] Speaker 3 We have two teams at BCU who arrange support for disabled students, our student inclusion team and our mental health and wellbeing team.

[00:00:51] Speaker 1 Support at university is different from support at school or college. At university you are expected to be more independent in your studies. Directly engaging with us we can assess what support you will need. You will have a disability support summary which will tell your course team what adjustments you need to your teaching and assessments. In addition, our mental health and wellbeing team can support you. not just with adjustments but with other support where appropriate. For example, counselling and practical advice on managing your mental health and wellbeing.

[00:01:30] Speaker 2 At university you are unlikely to have a support worker in lectures and seminars, unless we assess that you need a note taker or some other practical help, but they will not be with you all the time. The type of human support we might recommend for you will depend on your disability and how it affects you at university.

[00:01:46] Speaker 1 The other difference is that some students may be entitled to the Disabled Students Allowance, which is a grant from the UK government to help with the extra costs of being a disabled student. It might pay for one-to-one support, such as study skills tutors or mental health mentors, a laptop with assistive software, or money for taxis if you can't travel to university and back on public transport.

[00:02:15] Speaker 3 If you are thinking of living in university accommodation, you should think about what you might need, for example a bigger bathroom, an accessible kitchen or a support worker. Make sure you arrange to see the accessible accommodation, for example at an open day, and apply in good time if you do need an accessible room.

[00:02:33] Speaker 2 Transition to university can be daunting for anyone, but we're here to help and answer any questions you may have about your support. If you think, for example, that you might need someone to help you find your way around and understand how everything works for the first few weeks, tell us.

[00:02:47] Speaker 1 There are a few things you can do to get ready for university. You could come to an Open Day to find out about the course you're interested in and ask lots of questions. You can see the campus and you could talk to us about support.

[00:03:06] Speaker 3  Apply for Disabled Student's Allowance at the same time as applying for your tuition fee loan.We can help you with the application process if you get stuck.

[00:03:11] Speaker 2 When you apply via UCAS, make sure you say you're disabled so that you get information to guide you through getting ready for university. At BCU we have a pre-entry disability advisor who will send you the information you need, invite you to events and arrange to meet you if you'd like to do that.

[00:03:26] Speaker 1 You could also think about making a pre-entry appointment with our mental health and wellbeing team if you would like to talk about support for a mental health difficulty. If you're not sure

[00:03:37] Speaker 1 whether you are entitled to disability support at university or don't know what you need, just get in touch with us as soon as possible for a chat. We'll be happy to answer any questions.

[00:03:48] Speaker 1 and talk things through. There are some things you need to remember about getting ready for university. Firstly, many universities including Birmingham City University expect students to attend in person. If you think your disability or health condition might prevent you from often talk to us about how we could support you to attend.

[00:04:10] Speaker 3 Generally students at university are adults and that's how we will treat you. This means we will communicate with you about your support, not your parents or guardians. If you need your parents and guardians to help you to talk to us about support initially, that's fine, but it will only be for a short time as you settle in. After that, we expect you to engage with us directly about any support arrangements or adjustments on your course.