Information for DSA needs assessors and non-medical helpers

Accessing Disability Services

Students are asked to register with Disability Services and to provide supporting documentation about their disability, learning difficulty, long term health condition as well as permission to share disability-related information with relevant staff so that the right support can be provided.

Student Support Plans (SSPs)

Recommendations made by DSA Needs Assessors will be considered within the context of the University’s policies and procedures and implementation is at the University’s discretion.

Disability Services provides Student Support Plans (SSPs) for students who have disclosed a disability and provide supporting documentation. This is a document that recommends adjustments for a student’s academic studies. This can be adjustments in the teaching and learning setting, in exams and assessments, practical or performance sessions and placements. The SSP is a flexible document and the recommendations made can change depending on circumstances and the demands of the course.  Students can request to review their SSP at any time. 

Non-medical helpers (NMH)

The University has a contract with the Learning Support Centre (LSC) to provide a range of NMH support including note-taking, and practical support to the more specialist roles such as mentoring and study skills support for students with autism, mental health difficulties and/or ADHD. Therefore, we ask needs assessors to include LSC as one of the two quotes for this NMH provision in your DSA needs assessment report.

Interim NMH support

Due to the length of time it can take to arrange a needs assessment, Disability Services may have arranged and funded interim NMH support with our contracted NMH provider, LSC. Needs Assessors should ask the students whether interim support has been arranged and reflect this in the needs assessment to enable York to reclaim the interim support costs at a later date. 

Accessible facilities on campus

We aim to make our campus inclusive and welcoming to all staff, students and visitors. You can find further information on the accessible facilities web page including information about buildings and rooms, food outlets, hearing loops, etc.

Accommodation

The University provides a range of residential accommodations for students, including catered and self-catered halls, rooms with en-suite bathrooms and rooms with shared bathroom facilities. Several of the rooms have been adapted for disabled students and additional adaptations can be made on a case-by-case basis. 

If a student identifies as having a disability, they are encouraged to disclose this when they apply for their accommodation.  For more information on the University’s accommodation for disabled students, visit the Additional Requirements web page.

For students who have a disability-related requirement for a non-standard room type, and who incur an additional accommodation cost as a result, may be eligible to apply for funding to cover this cost.  For more information on funding for accommodation, visit the Disability Funding web page.

Transport and parking

Any student with a registered disabled blue badge can apply for an accessible parking permit that allows a student to park in disabled/accessible bays on campus. Accessible parking permits for students are provided free of charge and you can apply for them via the online parking permit system. Students will be required to upload appropriate documentation to support their application.

The University recognises that there will be some circumstances when a student has significant mobility impairment and/or is unable to use public transport but who is not eligible for a blue badge. We may consider issuing a special circumstances permit in some circumstances. This enables permit holders to park in the University’s main pay and display car parks, free of charge.

For more information about accessible and special circumstances permits, visit the Accessible and Special Circumstances Parking Permits web page. 

Taxis

Streamline and Drive are generally the providers recommended by Needs Assessors for students travelling around York. 

Learning support

Computer contribution

Students who are required to contribute £200 towards the cost of specialist equipment can apply for reimbursement for this from the University if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Once they’re fully registered on a course of study they may be eligible to claim reimbursement by accessing the Refunds for Disability-Related Costs web page.

Lecture Capture

At the University we use a lecture capture system known as ‘Panopto’. Lecture Capture is not available in all teaching spaces, but in rooms where it is installed all taught sessions will automatically be recorded, unless the department/staff have opted out. Lectures recorded using Panopto are also captioned.

If a lecture isn’t being recorded via Encore, disabled students are entitled to make their own audio recording on the understanding this is for personal study use only. Students are only permitted to record lectures and individual supervision sessions with a tutor’s permission. They’re not permitted to record small group teaching, e.g. tutorials or seminars or any student-led learning activity such as presentations or group work

For further information, visit the Guidelines for Recording Lectures and Seminars web page.

Course information and core competencies

For information on all of the courses offered at the University visit our undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses web pages.

Please be aware that the core competencies of a course cannot be adjusted, and that many of our professional programmes have fitness-to-practice requirements built into them. Any course that is not specifically a distance learning programme is also likely to have an in-person attendance requirement.

To discuss whether a specific adjustment/type of support can be implemented on a particular programme, contact us at disabilityservices@york.ac.uk.

Transition support for students - Step Ahead, Buddy Scheme, mentors

The University offers a range of transition support for students including disabled students:

• Step Ahead - this optional induction programme is designed to help new undergraduate students have the best possible start to University life. Step Ahead is aimed at students who belong to groups currently underrepresented at University, including disabled students. Disability Services runs an information session for disabled students at Step Ahead.
• Student Buddying Scheme - this is run by the Student Support and Advice Team to support new home full-time undergraduate students who belong to our Student Communities. Student Buddies are the first point of contact for new students who will share their own experiences and be on hand with friendly advice.

For students with complex disabilities who require more individualised support, specialist transition support may be recommended by a practitioner during early discussions with the applicant/student.

Assistive software

A range of assistive software is available for all registered students to access on campus. For further information about the software and tools available for students, visit the Accessibility and Tech Tips web pages.

Library and alternative formats

The Library is currently working to improve accessibility to all its resources and services. Information about physical provision is available on the Library’s Accessibility Information web page under the tab ‘Accessible Provision’. The Library can arrange a one-to-one introduction and conversation about the types of support required.

Disability Services works closely with the IT Accessibility Support Specialist in the Digital Inclusion, Skills and Creativity (DISC) to support students who need alternative formats, document conversions or e-books. The Library can also request PDFs of books directly from publishers. All students can create alternative format documents using Blackboard Ally and Sensus Access.

Individual exam arrangements

Individual exam arrangements are organised by Disability Services and there are deadlines by which students need to apply for these. The deadline is normally 12 weeks before the start of the assessment period. Arrangements are put in place following a discussion with the student and consideration of supporting documentation.

Contact us

If you’re an assessor and you have specific questions about/recommendations for support you can contact Disability Services directly at disabilityservices@york.ac.uk.