Who we support
Kingston University offers a range of support for students affected by disabilities and mental health conditions. Everything you need to know about who we help, and why, is right here.
Can I get support from the Disability and Mental Health Service?
Our Disability and Mental Health Service offers a range of study-related support to:
- current and prospective students
- undergraduate and postgraduate students
- offer holders
- EU and international students
- parents and guardians.
The disability and mental health advisers sat down with me before university started to ensure that all necessary support was put in place, and made my lecturers aware of the adjustments I would need.
Who can access the Disability and Mental Health Service?
The Equality Act (2010) defines disability as a "physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities."
With this in mind, the Disability and Mental Health Service provides support to students and applicants who have a range of different conditions, including:
- physical impairments, such as mobility difficulties
- long-term mental health conditions
- neurodivergent conditions such as autism and ADHD
- sensory impairments, e.g. deaf / hard of hearing or blind / partially sighted
- long-term medical conditions, e.g. diabetes or epilepsy
- Specific Learning Differences (SpLDs) such as dyslexia.
What support is provided by the Disability and Mental Health Service?
The Disability and Mental Health Service can provide a range of support to students and applicants including:
- information, advice and guidance on reasonable adjustments and strategies for studying with a disability
- coordinating a package of support including a Summary of Support Needs (SoSN) document
- assistance with applying for external support funding such as the DSA (if eligible)
- support with putting adjustments in place for university accommodation if required
- screening and assessment for dyslexia.
Support for current students
Already studying at Kingston University? You can get in touch and access our services at any time.
Telling us about your disability won’t mean you’ll face discrimination. It will mean we can provide the best possible support for you.
Current students can contact us through the StudentHub.
Support for prospective students and offer holders
Planning to study at Kingston University? Contact our Disability and Mental Health service as early as possible to get your support in place before you start your course.
- If you’re an undergraduate applicant, you can let us know about your disability or mental health condition by stating this on your UCAS form.
- Postgraduate applicants can declare their disability on the university application.
- Once you have applied and have made us your Firm or Insurance Offer, our team will contact you. The team will get in touch a few months before your course starts to invite you to register with the Disability and Mental Health Service.
- Your application will not be treated any differently and will be based on the entry requirements for all students.
- If you'd prefer not to declare your disability on your application, you can contact us directly to tell us about the support that you need by emailing [email protected].
- Declaring your disability on your application will not mean support is automatically put in place for you. You will need to register with us for support to be set up. You can do this by emailing [email protected].
We would recommend that you attend one of our Open Days or Offer Holder Days as part of the application process in order to ensure that you are able to make a fully informed decision about studying. This also gives you the opportunity to find out information about area such as:
- support on your course
- specific core course adjustments
- examination and assessment arrangements
- accommodation adjustments
- Disabled Students' Allowance funding
- health and safety arrangements
- building facilities.
If students apply for a course which is accredited by a professional and statutory body, the University is required to consider the fitness of students to undertake the programme. Courses where this applies include:
- teacher training
- social work
- midwifery
- nursing.
If you’re applying for a course like this, we may conduct an occupational health assessment to make sure you’re eligible. If you have any questions about how this might impact you, please contact us at [email protected].
If you are applying through clearing, please be aware that this takes place just a few weeks before teaching begins. As a result, some support, such as adapted accommodation, might be limited or take time to arrange. We recommend that you contact us as soon as possible at [email protected] to start setting up support and find out more about your options.
If you feel that not having all the support in place for the start of your course may disadvantage you then you may want to consider deferring to the next intake so that there is time to make all of the arrangements you will need to succeed.
Support for parents and guardians
We offer general advice to parents and guardians to help both you and your child transition to independence at Kingston University.
- When your child tells us about their disability, we will contact them about putting support in place.
- To receive support, they need to register with our service as well as declaring their disability on their application form.
- We will guide your child through the process of getting support in place.
- If your child needs more information, they can contact us at [email protected].
Our Disability and Mental Health Service helps students develop the independence and life skills they’ll need throughout their studies and working lives.
During the application process, you can encourage your child to:
- Register with the Disability and Mental Health Service.
- Apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance and personal care support via their local authority as early as possible – paperwork can be complex, and they may need extra support.
- Start thinking about the support they will need, taking into account what has happened at home, school and college in the past.
You can email our Disability and Mental Health Service at [email protected] or call them on +44 (0)20 8417 6000.
They can respond to enquiries about prospective students at any time, but can’t discuss current students without written consent.
- If you report a student's concern to us, we will take the appropriate steps to support the person you are worried about.
- We can give you advice about what you can do to support your child.
- We will not be able to share any further information with you about your child, unless they give us written permission to do so.
Get in touch
Can’t find the information you’re looking for?
You can contact us by telephone on +44 (0)20 8417 6000 (via the Information Centre) or +44 (0)20 8417 9000 (via the switchboard). Alternatively you can contact the disability team via email.
SignVideo Access is also available for BSL Users to communicate with us by phone.
Our Disability and Mental Health Advisers offer free appointments to discuss the support available at Kingston University. Current students can book through the Student Hub, offer holders and applicants can book via email.
