Sometimes your health, wellbeing or personal circumstances can begin to significantly affect your ability to study, engage with your course or participate fully in university life.
Support to Study provides a supportive framework for working with you when this happens.
The aim is to understand what is getting in the way of your studies, what support may help and what needs to happen to help you continue or return to successful study wherever reasonably possible.
It is a support process, not a punishment.
When might Support to Study help?
Support to Study may be helpful where your circumstances are having a significant or continuing impact on your:
- attendance or engagement;
- ability to complete assessments;
- concentration or ability to manage your studies;
- communication or relationships with others;
- physical or mental wellbeing;
- ability to manage the demands of your course;
- ability to participate safely and successfully in university life; or
- ability to continue studying without additional support or changes being considered.
You do not necessarily need to wait until you are unable to study before support is considered. Earlier support can sometimes prevent difficulties from becoming more serious.
What happens through Support to Study?
The starting point is to understand what is happening for you and how it is affecting your studies.
A Support to Study practitioner can work with you to:
- understand the difficulties you are experiencing;
- listen to your wishes, feelings and priorities;
- identify what is already working and where additional help may be needed;
- consider any immediate wellbeing or safety concerns;
- explore appropriate University and external support;
- identify practical steps that may help you remain engaged;
- coordinate support where several University services are involved;
- agree a Support to Study plan where this would be helpful; and
- review the plan with you to understand whether things are improving or whether something different is needed.
The support offered will depend on your individual circumstances and the impact they are having on your studies.
Your Support to Study plan
Where a plan is helpful, it should be developed with you and focus on practical, achievable actions.
For example, a plan might bring together support relating to:
academic engagement • mental health and wellbeing • disability and reasonable adjustments • housing • money • safeguarding • accessing healthcare • managing a return to study
It may also identify things that you will do, things that the University will do, and when you will meet again to review progress.
The purpose isn't simply to record what is going wrong. It is to establish:
Where are things now? → What would help? → Who needs to do what? → When will we review it?
Working with other University services
Support to Study can be particularly useful when your circumstances don't fit neatly within a single University service.
For example, you might be receiving specialist help from Mental Health & Wellbeing, reasonable adjustments through Accessibility, Disability & Inclusion, or assistance from Student Money or Safeguarding, while also needing support to manage the impact on your studies.
Support to Study can help bring these different elements together.
This does not mean that Support to Study replaces specialist services. Instead, it can provide a coordinated framework around your ability to study successfully.
Support to Study and reasonable adjustments
If you have a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or are neurodivergent, reasonable adjustments may form an important part of supporting you.
Support to Study does not replace the role of Accessibility, Disability & Inclusion, and it should not be used as an alternative to considering reasonable adjustments where these may be appropriate.
Equally, having reasonable adjustments does not prevent you from receiving additional Support to Study if your circumstances are having a wider impact.
Support to Study is not a disciplinary process
Being referred to Support to Study does not mean that you have done something wrong.
It is intended to respond supportively where health, wellbeing or personal circumstances are affecting study.
It is also distinct from other University procedures such as student discipline, academic misconduct, complaints or Fitness to Practise.
Occasionally, circumstances may raise a separate issue that needs to be considered under another University procedure. If that happens, we will explain the distinction and what this means for you.
What if I need some time away?
Sometimes the best way to support successful study is to continue with additional support.
At other times, you may want or need to consider whether a temporary break from study would help.
Support to Study can help you think through your circumstances and the support that may be needed around a period away from University and, importantly, your return to study.
Taking time away should not simply mean disappearing from support. Where appropriate, planning for a successful return can form part of the process.
You are part of the process
Support to Study should be something that is done with you, not simply to you.
We will want to understand:
What is happening?
What is most difficult at the moment?
What would you like to achieve?
What support do you think would help?
What would successful study look like for you?
There may occasionally be circumstances where the University has to consider significant safety, welfare, professional or other responsibilities alongside your preferences. Where this happens, the reasons should be explained to you.
Concerned about a student?
Staff can also raise a concern where a student's health, wellbeing or personal circumstances appear to be significantly affecting their ability to engage successfully with study.
You do not need to diagnose the student or decide what support they require.
Where possible, talk with the student about what you have noticed, encourage them to engage with support and explain any referral you are making.
[Make a Support to Study referral]
Asking for Support Early
You don't need to have worked out what support you need before contacting us.
Sometimes the first useful conversation is simply:
“Things are becoming difficult and I'm worried they're starting to affect my studies.”
That is enough to start exploring what might help.