Student Wellbeing

Our student advice team offers information, advice and guidance to support you if you experience stress, worry and concern about the academic side of University life as well as those struggling with personal issues which are affecting study. They will listen to you, discuss options and may refer you to other student services teams or departments.

The Student Life Advice team offers help with any of following services areas:

Homesickness, friendship issues, difficulty settling or fitting in, bereavement, family problems, relationship breakdown, general worries and stress, bullying and harassment, attendance problems, extenuating circumstances support, money worries, pregnancy, interrupting or withdrawing from study, repeating study and traumatic events such as sexual misconduct.

Contact us

For further details about Student Life Advice please ring Student Support & Success Reception on 01962 827 341 or email: student.advice@winchester.ac.uk

Who do we support

We welcome disabled students and are committed to improving access to all aspects of student life through:

• A range of confidential services for disabled students and staff. This includes services for those with physical and sensory impairments, medical conditions, mental health difficulties and specific learning differences such as dyslexia
• Information and guidance for disabled applicants
• Helping with access to the Disabled Students' Allowances or similar funds for equipment
• Working with other agencies who can provide help such as Mobility and Orientation Trainers
• Helping with arranging assessments, such as dyslexia assessments, and supporting applications for assistance
• Helping to set up appropriate exam arrangements including extra writing time or rest breaks
• Staff training opportunities on disability awareness issues
• Providing help and advice to academic staff on how to provide an inclusive learning and working environment

The Disability Advisers can offer support and guidance to you if you have a disability that affects your ability to study. This would include:

• A learning difference, for example dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD
• A mental health condition like anxiety or depression
• An Autistic Spectrum Diagnosis
• A physical disability, for example if you’re partially sighted or have to use crutches
• A long-term health condition such as cancer, chronic heart disease or HIV

The Disability Adviser role also encompasses disability in its broadest sense. This includes making arrangements for students who need support as a result of injury or illness.

What support is available?

The University of Winchester is registered with the Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) Quality Assurance Group as a Non-medical Help Provider. These are the following types of DSA funded support available:

Specialist Support Professional for Students with sensory impairments – Deaf (HI) 

Assistive Technology training and support

The team can also arrange non-funded support. This includes access to lecture notes, extra time for examinations and buddy support during welcome week.

Get in contact with the disability team as soon as possible if you are an international student or not eligible for the Disabled Students Allowances funded support. We will discuss your needs to make sure you are confident that the University can meet them.

How do I access support?

If you have applied or are thinking of applying to study at Winchester we recommend that you let us know of any additional requirements as soon as possible. We consider applications from disabled students on the same academic basis as all other applications. If you disclose your disability in your application you will receive an additional requirements questionnaire. By completing this questionnaire you can tell the disability team and the housing team more about your specific requirements.

If you want to apply for university accommodation please also contact the Student Housing Services team as early as you can. This helps us to check the availability of suitable accommodation.

Our ability to meet your needs is dependent on establishing a clear understanding of what your needs are, what the University can reasonably offer and where there are any gaps. We will make reasonable adjustments to address any gaps. Where any gaps remain we ensure that you are aware of them. This way you can take an informed view of whether our University and housing are suitable for you.

Medical and supporting evidence

To provide appropriate support, we need evidence of your specific requirements. This is usually a letter from a GP, consultant or another appropriate report from a medical professional. To apply for support for a learning difference, such as dyslexia, you need a full adult diagnostic assessment dated after your 16th birthday.

If you need a specific type of accommodation or adaptations to our accommodation, such as en-suite, or specialist furniture, the letter or report from a medical professional should refer specifically to why your condition requires this rather than just confirm a condition.

How do I fund my support?

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)

Most UK students with a physical disability or mental health difficulty, long term health condition or specific learning difficulty will be able to apply for Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs). These are a non-means tested and a non-repayable source of funding for disabled students' who incur additional expenditure as a direct result of attendance on their university course.

There may be other options available for international students.

DSA can help towards the cost of:

• Specialist equipment (e.g. digital voice recorder, assistive software)
• One-to-one support (e.g. specialist study skills, specialist mentoring)
• Other costs you have to pay because of your disability such as Travel support

To apply for the Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) please go to the Gov.uk DSA Website

If you’ve already applied for student finance

Sign into your student finance account to start your DSA application.

The application for DSA should be on your ‘to-do list’ if you chose DSA in your application for other support. If it is not, select ‘change your circumstances’ to apply.

If you do not have an online account because you applied for student finance by post, fill in a student finance form (form DSA1)

Personal Care and Assistance

If you think that you are likely to require care assistance or equipment whilst you are at University you should contact your Home Social Services department as soon as possible to start discussing this.

Personal assistance with daily living is the assistance that you might require even when you are not in University. This would include support with domestic activities such as cooking, cleaning or shopping; help with personal hygiene or some medical needs such as injections.

The University of Winchester only provides study-related assistance. We do not provide personal assistance or personal care support. However, our disability advisers can work with you alongside external providers and Social Services (if applicable) to provide advice and information about realistic opportunities for arranging suitable local support.

Funding personal care needs

The responsibility to fund your personal care package rests with Social Services within the local authority where you are "ordinarily resident".

Guidance on the identification of the ordinary residence of people in need of community care services, England (March 2010) can be found on the Department of Health website.

Social Services within the local authority are responsible for assessing and paying for support at University, even if you will be living away from home. Please be aware that due to its personal nature, the process of applying for and finalising a package of personal care support can take a long time.

For some applicants the process can take up to twelve months to complete. This is because you will either be a new referral (if you have never used the service before) or you will be transferring from children to adult services.

If you tell the Disability Team that you’re applying for personal care support, we can provide you with information about the course you will be studying and the University environment, to ensure that your care support needs are assessed as accurately as possible. Please contact us via email Disability@winchester.ac.uk. The team are happy to meet with you and your personal care team ahead of arriving at University.

Please also contact the housing team if you need an additional room for a carer once you have the offer of a place on a course. Your home Social Services will need to reflect this in their budgeting. Housing can be contacted via email Housing@winchester.ac.uk

International students

All students with additional requirements are eligible to receive advice and support from the Disability team regardless of funding. Although non-UK based students are not eligible for funding through DSAs, there may be other sources of funding. Many students coming to the UK to study are eligible for funding through their home government. This is usually applied for before you begin your programme of study.

More information about how to apply for Disabled Students' Allowances

If you are a UK student you can find out more about DSA funding and download the application form online at the Gov.uk website

Students from Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales

If you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales and are studying anywhere in the UK, your application for student finance is dealt with by the authorities in your own region.

Please follow the links below for the relevant website:

• Northern Ireland: Student Finance NI
• Scotland: Student Awards Agency Scotland
• Wales: Student Finance Wales

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

The States of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man also provide support packages for disabled students. Please click on the links below for more information:

• States of Jersey
• States of Guernsey
• Isle of Man

International students

All students with additional requirements are eligible to receive advice and support from the Disability team irrespective of funding. Although non-UK based students are not eligible for funding through DSAs, there may be other sources of funding. Many students coming to the UK to study are eligible for funding through their home government; this is usually applied for before you begin your programme of study. You are advised to speak with a Disability Adviser before accepting your place to study.

Other financial support

If you cannot get the money you need to do a course from official or statutory sources, trusts may be able to help you. Each trust has its own eligibility criteria, so it is important that you make sure you meet the trust's criteria before you apply:

• Student Health Association Assistance Fund
• The Snowden Trust
• The Mike Devenney Scholarship

After arrival at Winchester

Once you have started at Winchester we encourage you to meet with a disability adviser as soon as possible. If you need to have reasonable adjustments put in place or need to arrange specialist support the disability adviser will assist you. They will make sure your needs are met and will work with you to put guidance in place for staff who may need to know about your needs. Please make sure you have been in touch as early as possible to alert us to any needs you may have once you arrive at Winchester.

How to contact us

If you wish to discuss your support requirements with a member of the disability team, please email disability@winchester.ac.uk. If you would like to have a campus tour, visit housing or meet with academic staff as well as meeting with a disability adviser, please contact opendays@winchester.ac.uk  to arrange your visit.

We encourage all our students to register with a GP practice. There are three GP practices in Winchester. These are St Clements Practice, The Friarsgate Practice and St Paul's Surgery. All three practices offer most of the NHS services including advice on sexual health, repeat prescriptions and general consultation.

All three practices have information specifically for students on their websites. You can choose to register at any of these GP practices. Please click on the practice name below to get to the website for each surgery:

• St Clements Practice: To make an appointment students should ring 01962 852211. The practice main surgery is located in Tanner Street, Winchester
  
  
• The Friarsgate Practice: The Friarsgate Practice has their main site in Weeke and a branch surgery at Badger Farm. Registered students can book appointments at any of these locations
  
  
• St Paul's Surgery: St Paul's Surgery operates from a purpose-built surgery in Alison Way, Winchester. The surgery offers weekday daytime, evening and weekend appointments as well as a 24/7 online eConsult service. You can book appointments, order prescriptions, view test results and your medical history via an App. Easy and simple to register with the practice via their website or by popping into the surgery.

To assist you in choosing a GP practice, or insourcing other medical support in Winchester, you may also wish to look at the following resources:

NHS Choices webpage

NHS GP Patient Survery

CQC ratings

Dentists

Students are encouraged to continue with regular checks with the family dentist during the holidays. However, should an emergency arise whilst at University, the Dental Helpline should be able to help.

Meningitis

All university students are advised to have the Menigitis ACWY vaccine. This is available from your home GP and our local GPs will also be offering the vaccine to students throughout the academic year. All first year undergraduates are now advised to have a Meningitis (ACWY) booster if they were less than 10 years of age when they received their first Meningitis C injection. If you have not had the vaccination, or if you are unsure, speak to your GP.

The University of Winchester has a comprehensive Managing Menigitis Policy, developed with the support of the Health Protection Agency and this is followed should there be a suspected/confirmed case of meningitis at the University.

The Meningitis Research Foundation runs a 24 hour helpline: 080 8800 3344

No vaccine protects against all types of meningitis, so it is important to remain vigilant and aware of the symptoms.

Find out more information regarding the Meningitis ACWY vaccine

Find out more information regarding the symptoms of Meningitis infection

Further information and support for students is available from Meningitis Now

Influenza A (H1N1)

The University has a comprehensive policy in place should the H1N1 virus affect the day to day running of the institution. Information will be regularly communicated to students and staff via the internal website should the University be affected. For the latest information see the Department of Health website.