Support we provide
We can offer a range of support based on your individual needs and how your disability, learning difference, neurodiverse or health condition affects your studies.
All of the support we can provide relates to students' academic work and we are therefore unable to provide personal or social care support.
Personal/social care refers to any practical help or assistance you require for daily life, regardless of student status – in other words, non-study related activities or tasks such as:
- getting up, going to bed, or adjusting position overnight (and during the day)
- washing/bathing and getting dressed
- help with eating or medication
- using the toilet
- domestic activities – cleaning your living area, shopping, preparing meals.
Further information on personal or social care in Scotland can be found on the Scottish Government website.
The learning support we offer can be delivered in a variety of ways:
Schedule of Adjustments (also known as Learning Profile)
A list of modifications to how you experience your teaching and learning. Examples could include sitting exams in a smaller room, extra time on short loan or reserve books, no penalties for poor spelling, grammar or structure in exams, tasks to be broken down into smaller chunks if requested. This information is circulated to relevant staff in the Library, the Exams Team and your School, as necessary. The reason for the adjustments is generally not shared, unless it is vital for the implementation of effective support.
1:1 Specialist Support
We can engage professional staff to work with you on a 1:1 basis delivering specialised types of support such as Manual or Electronic Notetaking, Specific Learning Differences Tuition, Specialist Mentors for Mental Health or Autism. All of our staff are professionally trained and qualified, and are registered with the relevant professional bodies. You can find more information about the support provided by Mental Health and Autism Specialist Mentors here.
Specialist Proofreading
We provide specialist proofreading support in some circumstances for students with significant difficulties.
Please note: this service is NOT a standard proofreading service for those who need help with academic writing and is also not available to students who need proofreading support solely because English is not their first language.
Those students may find the resources on the following pages to be of help:
- English language support
- Academic Language and Literacies for In-Sessional Study (ALLIS) (Formerly ELSIS)
In addition, there are software applications that are widely available and have versions that are free to download, such as Grammarly, LanguageTool and Ginger that can provide a degree of practical proofreading support.
Provision of Assistive Technology
We can ensure that you are provided with the assistive equipment, software and technology that you need in order to be able to study effectively. This may include ergonomic equipment, assistive applications or equipment such as digital voice recorders.
Postgraduate Research Support
For information about the support available to postgraduate research (PGR) students click here.