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Our team provide a safe, confidential and non-judgemental spaceÌýin which you can discuss any wellbeing, mental health or disability concerns that may be affecting your ability to study.

Ask a question via ask¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

To ask our team a question, use our student enquiry portal, ask¹û¶³Ó°Ôº. You can first use the FAQ search to see if your question isÌýanswered, if not, you can click 'Log an enquiry' to get a response from us. This is also how you book appointments with our team via the '' FAQ.

All of our support services are free of charge and open to all ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº students.

Appointment open hours

Both same day and pre-booked full advisory appointments are available between the following times (UK time), Monday to Friday:

• 10am and 12pm.
• 1pm and 4pm.

Appointments are available throughout the year, except for ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº closure days.

We will always try to offer you an appointment during your preferred timeslot, however, appointments will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Always provide your availability to help facilitate faster bookings.

Same-day appointments

Our same day appointments allow you to speak to aÌýDisability or Mental health team member on the day for help and support.

Same day appointments are only available via:

• Telephone.
• MS Teams (via video, voice only or chat).

Just let us know what you prefer when booking your appointment. For face-to-face, please book a full advisory appointment.

Same day appointments are generally 15-20 minutes and can only be booked on the same day. Appointments are made via ask¹û¶³Ó°ÔºÌýbooking form and cannot be made over the phone.

Pre-booked full advisory appointments

If you need support with a more complexÌýenquiry, please contact us to pre-book a 45-60 minute full advisory appointment.

They are available via:

• Face-to-face at the Bloomsbury Student Centre or the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº East Marshgate building.
• Telephone.
• Microsoft Teams (via video, voice only or chat).

Provide your preference and availability when booking

1. Let us know your time and date availability for the next 2 weeksÌýand your preferred contact method.
2. Your appointment will then be scheduled as soon as possible with a waiting time of no longer than two weeks.
3. Give a brief explanation about what you’re experiencing when requesting an appointment so we can make sure the right support is there for you.

Appointments are made via ask¹û¶³Ó°Ôº appointment booking form and cannot be made over the phone.

Special requests about your adviser

Students can request a BAME (Black, Asian or minority ethnic) team memberÌýwho they may feel has better understanding of their cultural identity. Students can also request a male or female adviser, and/or an adviser who is LGBTQ+ or has specialist training in supporting students from the LGBTQ+ community – simply let us know when you contact the team.

What happens in your appointment?

Guided by you, our advisers and coordinators can:

Help you access reasonable adjustments

We can explore the potential impact that your disability or condition may have on your studies and look at whatÌýreasonable adjustments can be applied in your Summary of Reasonable Adjustments (SoRA). We can also help you to apply for certainÌýexam adjustments.

Learn about reasonable adjustments to your studies.

Refer you to specialist support

You can have specialist one-to-one support to help you mitigate negative impacts on your studies. We canÌýassign you to specialist tutors who can assist students with specific conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) and Specific Learning Diffiferences (SpLDs).

Learn more about Specialist study skills.

Refer you to other services

We can signpost you to other support services, including referrals to psychological or counselling support via the Student Psychological and Counselling Services (SPCS) team.

This includes providingÌýsupport and appropriate external referrals if you've been affected by domestic or sexual violence.

Provide general support related to your disability or condition

We can provideÌýinformation and advice if you're considering an interruption of study for health or wellbeing reasons, including return to study support.

We can also assist you with starting your application for disability funding, such as Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).

The above list is not exhaustive, check out more support we provide.

When we might refer you to another service

Please be aware that this service does not provide counselling, other therapeuticÌýor 1st responder support in a mental health crisis or emergency.

Our team of advisers and coordinatorsÌýfocus on the impact of your personal circumstances on your ability to study. Where your needs are outside of our expertise, our advisers will signpost you to other relevant services.

• Find outÌýmoreÌýaboutÌýcounsellingÌýfrom SSW's Student Psychological and Counselling Services (SPCS).ÌýÌý
• Find out more about what to do in a mental health crisis.
• Find out more about ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº's Student Funding Advisers.

How our appointments differ fromÌýcounselling

Our appointments are not the same as therapeutic counselling and you should not consider attending a DMHW appointment as equivalent to attending a counselling session.

Appointments with the Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing (DMHW) team are for providing supportive practical advice, signposting, and implementing any reasonable adjustments that may be required.

If one of our advisers has recommended that you access counselling, then we advise you to initially speak to your GP, as they’ll be in the best position to suggest effective support for any issues you may be facing.

Counselling support is also available through our Student Psychological and Counselling Services (SPCS) team here at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº.

Ensuring confidentiality

Before an appointment with a member of our team, please consider the points below to help you make sure confidentiality can be maintained.

• Have the call or video consultation in a place where it's unlikely that others will overhear your conversation.
• Where possible, use written text if this is difficult to ensure.
• Use headphones instead of having the call audio coming out of laptop/PC speakers to prevent people being able to overhear the responses from the person you are speaking to.
• If you want to talk about someone who may hear the conversation, it is advisable to change their name and let the person you are speaking to know you are doing this through text, so you can speak freely.
• Do not print any text from your online consultation, but instead save it to a secure document on your device, to limit the chances of others viewing it.

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Tell us about your disability or long-term health condition

If you feel that you might have a disability (including mental health or aÌýSpecific Learning DifferenceÌýlike dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD) but have not received a diagnosis, Ìýso that we can advise you further.

Read more about registering with SSW for further support.

Feedback

Students are at the heart of everything we do, and your needs are our primary concern.

If you have attended a same-day or pre-booked appointment with one of our Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing advisers, or if you'veÌýusedÌýthe ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº 24/7 Student Support Line, we would love to hear your feedback.

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