We want to provide you with the support that you require. To do this, we need you to provide suitable supporting documentation of your disability, neurodiverse or health condition or specific learning difference.
If you are unsure about whether your supporting documentation is suitable, or have other questions relating to your documentation you can drop into the Health and Wellbeing Centre to discuss this with one of our Disability and Inclusion Officers. They can also meet with you via Teams, if that is more convenient.
We need a diagnostic assessment report which meets the following criteria.
- Completed and signed by one of the following:
- Chartered Educational Psychologist, or
- Specialist Teacher certified by the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Differences (PATOSS) or Dyslexia Action: Requirements for Specialist Teacher Reports
- Use adult tests such as the WAIS IV
- In some instances, a report using a child-normed test between the ages of 14-16 years may be accepted. If you are unsure, email the report to disability.service@ed.ac.uk and we will review it for you.
- Include attainment tests such as:
- Adult Reading Test (ART),
- Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE), or
- Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT).
- There may be exceptional circumstances where other tests are deemed to be acceptable. We will work to the guidance produced by the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC).
We need a letter or diagnostic report confirming your diagnosis and completed by a medical professional, e.g. consultant psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.
If you are awaiting a diagnosis, we can put study adjustments in place for you based on a copy of a referral for diagnosis letter from a medical professional, e.g. GP. Unfortunately, we are unable to arrange any funded support until you have been formally diagnosed and we have received a copy of your letter/diagnostic report to confirm this diagnosis.
We need a letter or documentation from a relevant medical professional, e.g. your doctor, consultant, psychiatrist or another specialist.
The letter/documentation must outline:
- Details of your disability or medical condition and symptoms (e.g. does it cause fatigue, loss of concentration, anxiety?)
- That your disability or medical condition is ongoing or long-term and will impact your studies for at least 12 months.
- When the diagnosis was made.
- How your daily life is affected by your disability or medical condition
When requesting documentation from your medical professional you may wish to give them the option to complete the Medical Evidence Form below rather than composing a letter.
We need a letter or documentation from a medical professional (eg your GP, audiologist or cochlear implant centre)
The documentation should include:
- Level of deafness/hearing loss
- If the deafness/hearing loss is ongoing and long-term
- As far as possible, how your daily life is affected (ideally with reference to participation in university studies)
We need a letter or documentation from a medical professional (eg your GP or optometrist)
The documentation should include:
- Level of vision loss
- If the vision loss is ongoing and long-term
- As far as possible, how your daily life is affected (ideally with reference to participation in university studies)
A Disability and Inclusion Advisor may make a discretionary and pragmatic decision for short-term support. In some situations, students may still be required to provide appropriate documentation prior to support being offered. This decision is made on a case-by-case basis.
Any documentation provided should:
- be in the form of a letter from a GP or medical professional
- state the nature of the injury
- state the likely duration of the injury
- state the implications for study and day-to-day activities
For visiting students studying for a year or less in Edinburgh,
We can accept a Visiting Students Home Institution Learning Adjustments Form completed by you and your home institution.
DocumentVisiting Students Home Institution Learning Adjustments Form (90.96 KB / DOCX)- You do not need to include additional supporting documentation for your disability, health condition or learning difference but if you have this information it can be helpful.
- All documentation must be presented in English.
You can either:
- Email any documentation you have to disability.service@ed.ac.uk and we will review it for you, or
- Request to speak to an advisor.
All documentation must be presented in English.
If your documentation is not in English you have two options:
Obtain a certified translation of your original documentation. A certified translation is one which has been certified to be a true and accurate translation by the person who completed the translation. It should include the contact details of the person or company who prepared the translation and be added to the document in such a way so as to prevent the translation being tampered with, namely a legal fastening and/or embossed seal. This adds credibility to the translation and the authority this is presented to can verify the document with the translator if required.
Allow us to run your documentation through the University's AI platform, ELM, to obtain a translation. If you wish to use this method you need to:
- Email your original documentation to disability.service@ed.ac.uk
- State in the email that you give the Disability and Learning Support Service permission to run the documentation through the University's AI platform to obtain a translation.
- The documentation MUST be in Word or PDF format, we cannot create a translation from photographs.
- We will email you a copy of the translated document once done for their records.
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