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10 December 2022
Students: 9am–5pm
Staff: 9am–5pm

11 December 2022

Closed

12–16 December 2022
Students: 8.30am–10pm
Staff: 8am–10pm

17–18 December 2022

Closed

19–22 December 2022
Students: 8.30am–10pm
Staff: 8am–10pm

23 December 2022 – 2 January 2023

Closed

3–6 January 2023
Students: 8.30am–10pm
Staff: 8am–10pm

7–8 January 2023

Closed

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Find out about the free, one-to-one, confidential counselling available at UAL and how to make an appointment.

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Image credit: Benjamin Edmunds painting in the studio, Case Study, BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting, Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL | Photograph: Alys Tomlinson

You can access brief free confidential counselling at UAL. You can choose either online or in person counselling at a college site. Counselling at UAL is here to support you with problems that may impact you on your academic journey.

Some of the areas in which counselling can be helpful are:

mental health concerns

gender, sexuality and identity

family and relationship issues

loneliness and homesickness.

An administrator will email to acknowledge receipt of your online form. They will ask you to confirm your availability to attend counselling. When an initial appointment is available, the administrator will contact you again. They may contact you by either telephone or email.

Appointments

All counselling appointments are 50 minutes in duration. Please make sure that you attend any appointment that you have accepted. If you miss an agreed appointment, we will assume you no longer need counselling. The service will not make any further contact in this situation.

Missed appointments increase the time students have to wait for an appointment.

Your initial appointment is a therapeutic consultation with a counsellor. You can tell the counsellor about your concerns and what help you are looking for. The counsellor may ask more about you. This can include your concerns, academic status, current situation, past history or wellbeing.

Counselling is a confidential space. You can talk about your thoughts, feelings, experiences and history. Your counsellor will work with you to make sense of your concerns and experiences. They may help you to make connections or recognise patterns in your history. They will support you in finding your own strategies to move forward. Counsellors cannot give advice or tell you what to do.

UAL offers short-term counselling to support students to engage with their studies. Your counsellor will make an agreement with you on how many appointments will be useful. You will also agree the timing and frequency of appointments.

You may also discuss other types of support. Sometimes it may be more appropriate for you to see a different member of the team or an external service.

The counsellors all hold professional counselling qualifications. They work within the guidelines of the BACP Ethical Framework

Preparing for your appointment

You do not have to do any specific preparation before your appointment. You may find it helpful to consider the following questions:

What concern or problem do you want to address in counselling?

What are you hoping to get from your appointment?

What would you like to talk about with your counsellor?

Do you feel ready and able to talk about your concerns?

Please make sure you are on time for your appointment, so that you can make the most of the time available.

You can think of attending your appointment as a formal situation like visiting your GP.

Please attend all your counselling sessions, to make the most of the opportunity. It is important that you attend on time. Committing to attend your sessions is part of the therapeutic process.

Please turn off your mobile phone and avoid other distractions during your appointments. The appointment will not go ahead if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

If you miss or cancel an appointment it will count as one of your agreed sessions. We cannot replace missed appointments. Please give at least 72 hours (3 working days') notice, to rearrange a session.

It is your responsibility to contact your counsellor, if you miss a session. Your counsellor will assume you do not wish to continue, if they do not hear from you.

We can rearrange an appointment for the following reasons:

cancellation by your counsellor

We cannot rearrange appointments for the following reasons.

lectures/tutorials/crits/group work meetings

outside of UAL term dates

If you do not attend any two appointments, we may not be able to offer more sessions.

Please log in to Teams using your UAL email address in advance of your appointment.

Please make sure that you are in a confidential space for the appointment. This will help you to discuss your concerns safely. The appointment may not go ahead if you are not in a confidential space.

Please have your camera on during your appointment.

Therapy provides a safe and confidential space for you to talk to a trained professional about your issues and concerns. Your therapist will help you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and of others. A counsellor will not give you their opinions or advice or prescribe medication. They will help you find your own solutions - whether that's making effective changes in your life or finding ways of coping with your problems. - British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

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You can access brief free confidential counselling at UAL. You can choose either online or in person counselling at a college site. Counselling at UAL is here to support you with problems that may impact you on your academic journey.

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Here you can find more info on counselling, health advice, chaplaincy, disability and dyslexia support, and advice on funding, immigration and visas. More details can be found at https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/student-services

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Get support

Student Services offers appointments, information and support in-person, by video call, phone and/or email.

Read our COVID-19 safety guide (PDF 84KB) before you attend an in person appointment.

Student Funding Services

We manage and process the following loans, scholarships and bursaries:

Trusted Contacts and Confidentiality

Our approach to confidentiality and information-sharing

Student Services teams provide confidential advice and support. We store students' information securely and in line with UAL records management policies.

To provide effective, joined-up support, we may need to share student information:

between Student Services teams and team members;

with other UAL staff outside of Student Services;

with external individuals or organisations;

with a student's Trusted Contact(s).

We usually ask students to give their explicit permission to share information, before we share it with others. We share information on a 'need to know' basis. This means we share the minimum information needed for another team, staff member, or organisation to support the student.

Student Services may occasionally need to share information without a student's permission. This might happen in an emergency, or if the student or others are at risk of serious lasting harm. The Dean of Students, who oversees Student Services, decides when to share information without a student's permission.

Adam discusses his dyslexia diagnosis and the support he received from UAL Disability Service.

We asked 2 UAL students about their lifestyles and weekly spends. Jessy and Dominic share their advice for new students who are thinking of studying in London.

Student Charter

The Student Charter ensures the best possible experience for everyone studying/working at UAL, setting out the responsibilities that University, students and Students' Union should undertake.
UAL Student Charter 2016 (PDF 144KB)
Health and safety for students

Find out how UAL aims to create a safe environment for staff and students.

Support for staff

Visit Canvas for more information about how Student Services can help with supporting students.

Safeguarding

UAL is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all students, staff and visitors. The policy provides full details and a list of designated Safeguarding Persons at UAL.
Safeguarding General Policy 2022 (PDF 189KB)
Lead Safeguarding Officer

Mark Crawley
Dean of Students
m.crawley@arts.ac.uk
078 7281 6755

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UAL Student Services offers students counselling, a chaplaincy, and advice on disability support, funding and immigration. How can we help?

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If you are struggling with your work due to causes not in your control, you can apply for Extenuating Circumstances. This is a UAL-wide application process and it is not managed by the course

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If you are a UAL student and you are having difficulties meeting your deadline, you may be able to submit an Extenuating Circumstances claim.

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Book a meeting with Rob Brown, our Embedded Academic Support Tutor. Slots are available every Wednesday!

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Accessibility statement
Our commitment and legal obligations

We commit to ensuring the communications we produce are clear and accessible to the widest range of people. We recognise our obligations under The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the Equality Act 2010.

Web standards and technologies

We have developed the Academic Support Online environment so that it works on the widest number of devices and web browsers as possible. The site has been tested with disabled users, as well as automated accessibility testing software. It is also compatible with assistive technologies.

This website uses HTML 5 (HyperText Mark-up Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to render content. We have also used other technologies including JavaScript on certain areas of the website.

We're working hard to make the website conform to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1). We recognise we have more work to do to achieve this.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

This website is fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

Contact us

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren't listed on this page or think we're not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please contact us.

Alternative versions

If you are not able to access a service or content on the website, contact The Academic Support - academicsupportonline@arts.ac.uk. Please include details of the content you need and the required format. We will then work with the team who own the service/content to get you what you need.

Issues and complaints

To report an issue with the website or to make a complaint, please contact The Academic Support Online team - academicsupportonline@arts.ac.uk

We aim to provide you with an initial response within 48 hours and will provide clear information about how we will deal with your enquiry.

If you feel we have not answered your complaint satisfactorily, please contact us again. We will escalate your complaint to Richard Parry - r.g.parry@arts.ac.uk who will work with the team who provides the service/content to get you a response.

This statement was prepared on 24.06.2019. It was last updated on 24.06.2019.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you're not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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Here you can find support if you speak English as an additional language or if you require language development assistance. This service can help you with the language skills you need to be successful on your course

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If you are a current UAL student and speak English as an additional language, we can help you with the language skills you need to be successful on your course.

Welcome to English Language Development

Explore our range of classes, tutorials, resources and other English language development support. Discover our Language Community to take part in language exchanges and creative multilingual projects throughout the year.

If you are a current UAL student but need to improve your IELTS score to progress onto your next level of study at UAL, you can take the Progress Test, which is the UAL English language test for current students.

Read more about this research project which was developed to examine interaction with international students to raise awareness of the educational potential of the use of language.

@ual_language_development

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English Language Development for students

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Free classes, workshops and 1-to-1 sessions, supporting UAL students to build up their English language skills.

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Student's Guide on taking TimeOut
Use this guide to support
you through the process of
taking time out from your
studies.
It will help you understand:
- What happens when,
- What resources you can
access before, during and after time out,
- How your course and UAL
will communicate with you
while you are away

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Recognising the vital role we all play in keeping each other safe! Share the pledge

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We have created a COVID-19 Community Pledge - recognising the vital role we all play in keeping each other safe. We ask that all staff and students are familiar with and adhere to the pledge.

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Tell Someone enables you to record a concern and safely connect to a member of staff who will support you in the process of reporting racism, bullying, harassment and sexual violence, inside and outside UAL. Here to help!

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UAL is committed to promoting a safe and inclusive environment for all students. We take all reports of racism, bullying, harassment and sexual violence seriously.

The Tell Someone form enables you to record a concern and be put in touch with a member of staff to discuss next steps. We can let you know about the support available, discuss formal and informal ways of resolving an issue, and signpost you to further information. We will listen to you, and be guided by you in terms of considering next steps. You also have the option of making an anonymous report.

Further guidance
Jump to:
What is 'Tell Someone'?

'Tell Someone' offers a point of contact for students to report incidents and access support in relation to racism, bullying, harassment or sexual violence.

When you contact us through Tell Someone you are not committing to any specific course of action. The email address is monitored by a small group of staff who have been trained in responding to and supporting students who have experienced racism, bullying, harassment or sexual violence. If you select 'speak to a member of staff' one of the people listed below will get in touch to discuss next steps:

Head of Counselling and Student Health

Head of Student Advice and Safeguarding Support

Head of Counselling and Student Health

Associate Director: Progression and Further Education

The information you provide is treated as confidential and will not be shared without your agreement.

What happens if I select 'speak to a member of staff'?

One of the members of staff listed above will get in touch with you to set up a meeting or talk on the phone. They will listen to your concerns, help you to access support and discuss the different ways of resolving the issue. They will provide you with information about the University's complaints procedure and formal routes for resolving concerns.

The member of staff will not make judgements as to whether a particular incident definitely constitutes misconduct. You can access support with making a formal complaint by contacting the Students' Union Advice Service.

Where appropriate, the member of staff can assist you to resolve the concern informally, for example, by putting you in touch with someone at your College (e.g. Dean / Programme Director / Course Leader) who can help to resolve the issue. They may also explore the option of mediation where appropriate.

If you are reporting an incident of sexual violence the Head of Counselling and Student Health will get in touch with you directly. You can meet with her, or a member of her team, to talk about what has happened, the support available and possible next steps.

What happens if I report anonymously?

We are aware that some students would prefer to raise concerns anonymously. If you report on an anonymous basis, we are not able to commit to taking any formal action. However, the information can be used to identify whether there have been similar complaints and whether there is a pattern of behaviour or trends which should be investigated. We would encourage you to access support and advice, even if you choose to report anonymously.

What other support is available?

UAL Counselling Service

The Counselling Service offers free, confidential one-to-one counselling for students. You can speak to a counsellor in private, and they will listen and support you. If you wish, the Counselling Service can assist with arranging adjustments to your study, support with extenuating circumstances, and can help you to access support from a range of other agencies.
Contact UAL Counselling Service
Students' Union Advice Service

The Students' Union Advice Service offers independent, confidential advice on a range of issues, including bullying, harassment and sexual violence. Students' Union Advisers can assist you to resolve concerns through the formal complaints routes, or through informal means. Advisers can accompany you to meetings and can advise you on how university procedures work.
Contact SU Advice Service
What is Prevent?

UAL is committed to ensuring it remains a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment for learning, teaching and research. Under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, UAL has a legal 'Prevent' duty to seek to prevent anyone from being drawn into violent extremism or terrorism. Visit arts.ac.uk/prevent-duty to read our Prevent policy and find out more.

If you're concerned someone is expressing views discriminatory against particular groups of people, is excluding others from activities or threatening others with violence, please contact tellsomeone@arts.ac.uk.

How do I make a formal complaint?

If the complaint relates to a member of staff you can submit a complaint via the Student Complaints Procedure.

If the complaint relates to a student, you can contact your Dean, in line with the Student Disciplinary Code.

We encourage students to contact the Students Union Advice Service for support with making a complaint.

Please note: If you have experienced sexual violence you can contact the Dean of Students or Head of Counselling and Student Health directly, or through this form, to discuss how university investigation procedures work.

Confidentiality

The information you give us will be stored in a secure, password protected folder. The information is treated with strict confidentiality. We will ask for your consent before sharing any details with other teams or staff members. No further action will be taken and your identity will not be shared further without your consent unless there are legal reasons that require us to do so. This might be, for example, where your information is about a child or vulnerable adult who is at risk, or if you have indicated that you are in immediate danger. If this is the case, we may have to tell the police or the University and will always give a full and frank explanation for why this is necessary before doing so.

The questions we are asking will help us identify if there are any patterns of inappropriate behaviour occurring at the University. If you request to speak to a member of staff, the information you provide will help us identify the most suitable person and will provide them with useful background information to the concern or incident you are reporting.

The responses submitted will also be used anonymously for reporting purposes to help the University to identify patterns and trends in the incidents reported in order to improve the way we respond to these. No names or other identifying information will be included in the data that we collect for these reporting purposes.

Other ways to get in touch

If you have any further questions, please email tellsomeone@arts.ac.uk or phone 020 7514 6251.

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UAL is committed to promoting a safe and inclusive environment for all students. We take all reports of racism, bullying, harassment and sexual violence seriously. The Tell Someone form enables you to record a concern and be put in touch with a member of staff to discuss next steps.

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If you are having financial issues or you require advice

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Eligibility

Students who are on any further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course can apply for the University Hardship Fund, but you should check the detailed eligibility requirements in the guidance notes before applying.

To be eligible for a payment from this fund, students will need to have an annual household income that is below £50,000.

Applications will also be considered from students studying a further education course who are not eligible for statutory funding from the 16-18 Bursary and Advanced Learner Loans Bursary. Further education applications will need to meet the eligibility criteria for the University Hardship Fund in order to be considered for funding.

All Home undergraduate students will need to have student finance assessment of household income that is below £50,000 to be eligible for payment from these funds and, International and postgraduate students will be required to demonstrate their household income is below this level. If you have not been means-tested, you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund.

Postgraduate and research students who are eligible for a student loan from Student Finance, must have taken out the full entitlement in order for your application to be considered. If you have not taken the Student Finance loan, you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have made realistic provision at the start of the course to fund both the course tuition fees and living costs for the duration of the course otherwise you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund.

In recognition of rising energy costs, the University Hardship Fund will provide a contribution of £500 to help with fuel cost for students who are in privately rented accommodation.

The Fund will treat the following student groups as a priority for assessment. Students:

with caring responsibilities

who are care leavers (home undergraduate students only)

with disabilities and chronic medical conditions which may affect paid employment

who are estranged from both parents (to be considered estranged from your parents, you must be under 25 years old and you won't have had any written or verbal contact with either parent and this is unlikely to change. Estrangement is usually for a period of at least 12 months) - this priority group is only applicable to undergraduate students

with significant debts

who have been a victim of fraud resulting in unexpected hardship

who have experienced exceptional unexpected circumstances which can be documented - may include but is not limited to costs incurred due to bereavement for a parent/guardian, within the last 12 months; loss of earnings and parent/guardians loss of earnings - invoices/receipts for expenses incurred will be required.

Priority group awards are capped at a maximum of 2 priority groups.

All applications will be assessed for a full academic year.

About

The University Hardship Fund is a means-tested grant, it is not a loan and does not need to be repaid. Support is available to assist with living and digital equipment costs.

For home undergraduate, postgraduate and research students, the minimum award we can pay is £200. Therefore, if your assessment shows the difference between your income and expenditure to be less than £200, no payment will be made. The maximum amount we award is £5000.

Awards for further education students, all graduate diploma students and international students are based on priority groups. The minimum award we can pay is £200 and the maximum amount we award is £2000.

There is no guarantee that any applicant will be eligible for or awarded the maximum amount.

Awards are paid in 3 termly instalments. All applications will be assessed for a full academic year.

The award is for maintenance only; no award will be made for tuition fees.

Apply

University Hardship Fund

Students who are currently enrolled with UAL studying a further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course and require financial assistance can apply for the University Hardship Fund.

Applications for the University Hardship Fund must be made by filling in an online application form via the funding tab in the UAL Student Portal.

Please log in to the student portal, select the 'my Funding and Finance' tab and proceed to select 'Search and Apply for Funding'; this should bring up the University Hardship Fund, for you to complete and submit.

In addition to the online application form, you'll need to upload the relevant supporting evidence applicable to you. More information is provided in the relevant guidance notes below:

Applicants will receive the result by email, within 20 working days of us receiving their fully completed application form and/or supporting documents.

If you're unable to upload your supporting documents, please send your attachments via our funding student enquiry form. Please don't post supporting documents.

If you have received an award from the University Hardship Fund and experience a significant change in your circumstances, you don't need to complete another form. Send us a supporting letter and further evidence to demonstrate this change in your circumstances.

Closing Date: Friday 14 June 2024.

Receiving payment

Successful applicants will receive payment via bank transfer. Further information to be provided after confirmation of funding.

Help

If you have questions or need help, please contact us using our student enquiry form.

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The University Hardship Fund is available to all students on any further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course at University of the Arts London.

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How to understand Extenuating Circumstances  

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How to understand Extenuating Circumstances  

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If you find yourself in need to apply for Extenuating Circumstances, here you can find an overview of what to expect

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The UAL Extenuating Circumstances process gives students the chance to ask the exam board to consider things in their personal life which will have or has had an impact on their assessments.

You can submit an Extenuating Circumstances claim up to 2 weeks before the exam board meets. If you're late you'll need to wait for your exam board results, at this stage you can submit an appeal, check out our appeals page here.

We've written a quick guide on what you need to know before submitting an Extenuating Circumstances claim. This isn't a substitute for advice so we recommend getting in touch with us if you're about to submit an Extenuating Circumstances claim.

You will also need to submit ECs if you are arriving late to campus this year. You can read more about this here.

If you need emotional support or help you can find out more about the resources available here.

Quick facts about applying for Extenuating Circumstances at UAL

I've missed the deadline

If you've missed the deadline you will need to submit an appeal but you'll need to wait until you receive your exam board results. We've written advice on appeals which you can read here.

Here is a bit more info...

The extenuating circumstances form asks you for your information, what your extenuating circumstances are and how they have affected your studies. They also ask you to attach evidence to your form.

Evidence

During this period affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, you should continue to submit and undertake assessments where your course teams have made this possible. The University will continue to operate its extenuating circumstances procedures for these assessments. If anything has happened to you that prevents you from completing, submitting or undertaking assessment, you should let us know by submitting extenuating circumstances. This includes anything that relates directly to COVID-19.

Because the present situation will make it difficult for anyone claiming extenuating circumstances to provide evidence, you may submit your claim without evidence. When you enter the system, within your portal, please follow all stages and indicate that there is no evidence available. Your claim will be considered on the basis of your statement.

Submitting the Form

You need to submit the form to your College Extenuating Circumstance email address as listed below

or via the Student Portal.

Deadline

The deadline for submitting is at least 2 week before the Exam Board Meeting. You can ask your Course Administrator for the date of your Exam Board Meeting.

What happens next?

Your form will be considered by an EC panel. You can find the dates of the next EC panel by contacting your Course Administrator. The EC panel will then make a recommendation to the Exam Board. You'll hear the outcome of your EC claim within 24 calendar days but you may hear sooner.

Outcome

These are the usual outcomes depending on when you submit work and if your EC is accepted. There are exceptions to the outcomes below depending on the unit you are taking. Get in touch for advice relating to your case

Submit on time

You can choose to resubmit the work at a later date if you are unhappy with your grade. Your mark will be uncapped

Your work will be marked as normal

Submit up to 14 days after the deadline

Your work will be marked as normal with no late penalties

OR

You can choose to resubmit the work at a later date if you are unhappy with your grade. Your mark will be uncapped

You will incur late penalties

1 - 24 hrs late

Marked down 1 increment e.g. it will go down from B+ to B

Not submitted

Resubmit the work, whole unit capped at a D-

Do not submit any work

You will receive a resubmission opportunity. Your mark will be uncapped

You will receive a resubmission opportunity and be given a new deadline to submit your work by but this grade would be capped at a D-

Dissatisfied?

You can appeal using the UAL appeals process. Get in touch and we can talk you through this.

What can the Arts SU Advice Service do for me during the UAL ECs process?

Advise you on the process

Help you structure your form and the reasons for your EC claim

Read over your form and suggest any changes

Advise you on preparing evidence

Get in touch

Email us - advice@su.arts.ac.uk

Book a telephone appointment here

Other useful links

UAL Extenuating Circumstance Page

UAL Guidance on Extenuating Circumstance

UAL Extenuating Circumstance Regulations

I need emotional support

Extenuating circumstances, whatever they are, can be disruptive. If you need someone to speak to for emotional support please check out our additional support section here.

*Correct as of October 2020

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The UAL Extenuating Circumstances process gives students the chance to ask the exam board to consider things in their personal life which will have or has had an impact on their assessments. You can submit an Extenuating Circumstances claim up to 2 weeks before the exam board meets.

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ISA offers support for a range of needs: from  caring responsibilities, learning challenges, anxiety, disability and dyslexia. This service helps arrange reasonable adjustments, support, and funding for your studies.

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The Disability Service helps arrange reasonable adjustments, support, and funding for your studies. If you are disabled or have a Specific Learning Difference, such as dyslexia, please get in touch.

Support can include:

Disability support at University is provided in a different way than in schools. You might also find the language and terminology different. The National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) have created this School vs University glossary and explainer to help.

How it works

Each student has a named Disability Adviser. The Disability Adviser can support you before and during your course.

Please contact disability@arts.ac.uk so we can put you in touch with your Disability Adviser.

Once you have provided disability evidence, you will be offered an appointment with the Disability Adviser for your course. Your Disability Adviser will contact you to arrange an appointment within 3 working days of receiving suitable disability evidence.

Your first appointment

The first appointment with your Disability Adviser usually involves:

Identifying any barriers to your studies.

Agreeing the adjustments and support needed to remove these barriers.

Creating an Individual Support Agreement (ISA) (PDF 565KB). An ISA sets out the adjustments you need for your studies. For example, this could include additional time for assignments. You and your Disability Adviser will agree who the ISA will be shared with.

Identifying funding you are eligible for, such as Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs).

Identifying equipment, assistive software and support for your studies.

Signposting to useful facilities and support.

Your Disability Adviser will ask you to provide disability evidence. However, the Disability Adviser won't focus on your diagnosis. The conversation will focus on the practical steps to remove disabling obstacles.

Conversations with your Disability Adviser are confidential to the Disability Service. We only share information with your tutors or other departments with your permission. However, there are exceptions (Disability Service Confidentiality Guide PDF 1.74KB) if you are at risk of harm.

Adjusted Assessment

Some disabled students may need additional time to complete assignments, or need to complete them in a different way. UAL has a formal process for arranging additional time or alternative assessment methods. This is called 'adjusted assessment'.

Your Disability Adviser will help identify whether you need an adjusted assessment. The information is then included in your Individual Support Agreement (ISA).

The term 'adjusted assessment' replaces 'accommodated assessment' from the 2020-21 academic year.

Read our Adjusted Assessment Guide for Students 2020-21 (PDF 565KB).

Requesting additional time (current students)

If you have an ISA it will explain how to request additional time. Please read the 'Adjusted (or Accommodated) Assessment' section of your ISA. You will usually need to contact your course tutor two weeks before the general deadline.

If you don't know if you have an ISA, please contact disability@arts.ac.uk.

Make sure you know when your adjusted assessment deadline is. This may be published in your unit handbook. If not, ask your course team to confirm it.

Feedback from students

Students said their Disability Adviser was

"Proactive and helpful"

"Patient and accommodating"

"Helpful, kind and patient"

"Great!"

Contact

disability@arts.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7514 6156

Please provide:

1. Your name

2. Student ID number (if known)

3. Course you are studying or interested in

4. The nature of your query

Information is treated confidentially. It will not be shared outside the Disability Service without consent. For exceptions, please see the Disability Service Confidentiality Guide (PDF 1.74KB).

For full access and route guides to all our sites visit AccessAble.

Find out more about library support for disabled and dyslexic students.

Find out more about Assistive Technology that can help with your studies.

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Learn more about the support we provide for UAL students with a disability including dyslexia.

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Here you can get IT systems and support

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Information about UAL's IT service for students. Help with email, Wi-Fi, logins, calendars and storage.

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Here you can find more info on available UAL  funding if you are experiencing financial hardship, or require financial support to access appropriate equipment.

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Eligibility

Students who are on any further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course can apply for the University Hardship Fund, but you should check the detailed eligibility requirements in the guidance notes before applying.

To be eligible for a payment from this fund, students will need to have an annual household income that is below £50,000.

Applications will also be considered from students studying a further education course who are not eligible for statutory funding from the 16-18 Bursary and Advanced Learner Loans Bursary. Further education applications will need to meet the eligibility criteria for the University Hardship Fund in order to be considered for funding.

All Home undergraduate students will need to have student finance assessment of household income that is below £50,000 to be eligible for payment from these funds and, International and postgraduate students will be required to demonstrate their household income is below this level. If you have not been means-tested, you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund.

Postgraduate and research students who are eligible for a student loan from Student Finance, must have taken out the full entitlement in order for your application to be considered. If you have not taken the Student Finance loan, you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have made realistic provision at the start of the course to fund both the course tuition fees and living costs for the duration of the course otherwise you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund.

In recognition of rising energy costs, the University Hardship Fund will provide a contribution of £500 to help with fuel cost for students who are in privately rented accommodation.

The Fund will treat the following student groups as a priority for assessment. Students:

with caring responsibilities

who are care leavers (home undergraduate students only)

with disabilities and chronic medical conditions which may affect paid employment

who are estranged from both parents (to be considered estranged from your parents, you must be under 25 years old and you won't have had any written or verbal contact with either parent and this is unlikely to change. Estrangement is usually for a period of at least 12 months) - this priority group is only applicable to undergraduate students

with significant debts

who have been a victim of fraud resulting in unexpected hardship

who have experienced exceptional unexpected circumstances which can be documented - may include but is not limited to costs incurred due to bereavement for a parent/guardian, within the last 12 months; loss of earnings and parent/guardians loss of earnings - invoices/receipts for expenses incurred will be required.

Priority group awards are capped at a maximum of 2 priority groups.

All applications will be assessed for a full academic year.

About

The University Hardship Fund is a means-tested grant, it is not a loan and does not need to be repaid. Support is available to assist with living and digital equipment costs.

For home undergraduate, postgraduate and research students, the minimum award we can pay is £200. Therefore, if your assessment shows the difference between your income and expenditure to be less than £200, no payment will be made. The maximum amount we award is £5000.

Awards for further education students, all graduate diploma students and international students are based on priority groups. The minimum award we can pay is £200 and the maximum amount we award is £2000.

There is no guarantee that any applicant will be eligible for or awarded the maximum amount.

Awards are paid in 3 termly instalments. All applications will be assessed for a full academic year.

The award is for maintenance only; no award will be made for tuition fees.

Apply

University Hardship Fund

Students who are currently enrolled with UAL studying a further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course and require financial assistance can apply for the University Hardship Fund.

Applications for the University Hardship Fund must be made by filling in an online application form via the funding tab in the UAL Student Portal.

Please log in to the student portal, select the 'my Funding and Finance' tab and proceed to select 'Search and Apply for Funding'; this should bring up the University Hardship Fund, for you to complete and submit.

In addition to the online application form, you'll need to upload the relevant supporting evidence applicable to you. More information is provided in the relevant guidance notes below:

Applicants will receive the result by email, within 20 working days of us receiving their fully completed application form and/or supporting documents.

If you're unable to upload your supporting documents, please send your attachments via our funding student enquiry form. Please don't post supporting documents.

If you have received an award from the University Hardship Fund and experience a significant change in your circumstances, you don't need to complete another form. Send us a supporting letter and further evidence to demonstrate this change in your circumstances.

Closing Date: Friday 14 June 2024.

Receiving payment

Successful applicants will receive payment via bank transfer. Further information to be provided after confirmation of funding.

Help

If you have questions or need help, please contact us using our student enquiry form.

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The University Hardship Fund is available to all students on any further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course at University of the Arts London.

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If you find yourself in a difficult situation whilst studying, the SU can offer you independent support on issues such as housing, appeals, and extenuating circumstances.

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Impartial | Independent | Free

Your Students' Union Advice Service is here to offer you independent support if you find yourself in a difficult situation whilst studying at UAL.

We can advise on a range of issues that might affect you whilst studying at UAL. The Advice Service is confidential, which means we won't tell your college you have approached us unless you ask us to.

On this site, you can access quick advice on some of the most common processes students encounter at UAL but if you're not sure where to start try our self-help questionnaire or get in touch.

Get in Touch

To keep everyone safe there is no drop-in or face-to-face appointments available at the moment but we are still available to support you. You can get in touch via email or book a call with us.

Our advisers are working from home and may have caring or other responsibilities, however, we will do our best to work with you to speak at a time that suits.

Email us - advice@su.arts.ac.uk

Book a telephone appointment with an adviser here

We aim to respond to all emails within 3 working days.

** The Advice service will be closed for the winter holiday between 19th December and 10th January. **

Self-Help

Policies

Arts SU Advice Service has a number of policies that lay out how we will provide you with a quality service and explains how we use your data.

You can access the Arts SU Advice Handbook here.

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Impartial | Independent | Free Your Students' Union Advice Service is here to offer you independent support if you find yourself in a difficult situation whilst studying at UAL. We can advise on a range of issues that might affect you whilst studying at UAL.

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Here you can stay in touch with the wide UAL students community! A good space to connect and share experiences.

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During these uncertain times, we understand how easy it is to feel disconnected from one another, let alone university life. We believe that it's important for students to stay in touch with one another and continue the collective UAL spirit. Arts SU's Advice Team have launched a new companion scheme. This initiative aims to connect compatible students, encouraging interaction and collaboration.

They have created a Google form for students to fill out with things they might have in common with their companion. The data will be used to pair up students so they can converse and set up video calls with one another ....2020's version of a pen pal!

For more information please take look at the Arts SU blog post.

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During these uncertain times, we understand how easy it is to feel disconnected from one another, let alone university life. We believe that it's important for students to stay in touch with one another and continue the collective UAL spirit. Arts SU's Advice Team have launched a new companion scheme.