Disability Support

Please ensure any information about any disability and/or a long-term medical condition that may affect your studies is disclosed to the Learning Support Senior Advisor or the Health & Welfare Office in Student Services .

UK students may be eligible for a Disabled Students Allowance (DSA); however, since you will need to be formally assessed to receive this, you should get in touch with Student Services as soon as possible or it may not be available in your first term of study. Student Services will also try to get in touch with all students who disclose information about a long-term medical condition and/ or disability before the start of term so that they can understand each student’s specific needs and provide individual advice.

You can obtain further information from your local DSA funding body:

• England
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales

Students from the Republic of Ireland may be entitled to funding via the Fund for Students with Disabilities (which is funded by the Irish Government). For further information about the fund, guidance on making an application and other financial support, please visit their website.

Unfortunately, international students are not eligible for the UK government disability allowances. However, the School can offer some Study Skills sessions and some basic equipment. It is the responsibility of the EU and overseas students to enquire from their own country whether or not they are eligible for any financial help.

You may also wish to look up the following helpful guides for prospective students:

• Into Higher Education 2018: The guide for disabled people’ (by Disability Rights UK)
• Funding higher education for disabled students 2018/19  (by Disability Rights UK)
• Extra Help -  Disabled Students’ Allowances - Student Finance England

If you have a Specific Learning Difficulty (Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD/ADD etc.) and had a diagnostic assessment after your 16th birthday, please contact us so that we can advise you on applying for funding (Disabled Students Allowance/DSA). We can then have the appropriate support in place for when your studies commence. If your diagnosis occurred before your 16th birthday, you will need to organise another assessment. The sooner this takes place, the more likely it will be that support can be set up for you before your course begins. For all other disabilities and long term health conditions, you will need medical evidence or a report from a suitably qualified specialist to support your funding application.

If you are unsure but think you might have a disability, we would encourage you to contact the Learning Support Senior Advisor in Student Services as early as possible, prior to starting your course or at your earliest opportunity once your studies commence (although this can be at any point during your course) so we can offer you an informal discussion regarding your needs and studies at the Guildhall School. Once your course begins it can be difficult to prioritise this so we would encourage you to get in touch as soon as any issues arise, so that we can get appropriate support in place to enable you to get the most out of your time at the school. Academic staff are also incredibly supportive and you may wish to discuss your concerns with a tutor in the first instance.

The following information is for higher education offer-holders and students.
 

What is Consent to Share?

‘Consent to Share’ is how Student Services obtain consent from students to share information about a disability or health condition.

It is your decision as to whether you consent, however all students who have declared a disability must either consent, or not consent.
 

How do I give Consent to Share?

There is a ‘Consent to Share’ section on eGo, on the ‘My Support’ page.

For offer-holders: If you declared a disability on your application, you will be asked to complete this before your enrolment. If this is not completed beforehand, you will be asked to do so as part of the online enrolment process in September.

For current students: You can declare a disability and give consent to share at any point during your studies. You will usually be asked to complete this following a meeting with a member of Student Services.

Who does Student Services share my information with?

Student Services will primarily share information relating to your disability or condition with staff within the School who are directly involved with teaching or supporting you, and/or external providers such as needs assessment centres or non-medical helpers.

All information is shared on a need-to-know basis.

For further information on what is shared and who with, please see the table below: 

If there is a need to share information with individuals not directly involved in providing support this must be expressly agreed and evidenced in writing.

What if I do not want to give consent?

You may choose not to give consent to share, and find you can cope with the demands of the course without adjustments, using general support available within the School and external services such as DSA. However, without consent the accommodations that can be made within your
course will be limited.

What if I don’t want teaching staff to know certain details?

We understand that disclosing sensitive information is not always easy, and there may be details that you do not want your department to know about. Should this be the case, please let Student Services know so that we can adjust your Consent to Share information.

However, please be aware that this in some cases this could impact on the level of support that can be offered to you by your department.

What if I want to withdraw my consent to share?

You can withdraw your consent to share at any point. You can do so by logging into eGo and updating your consent to share preference. You should also arrange a meeting with a member of the Student Services team to discuss this.

Where can I find full information on how my information is used?

The following documents can be accessed for full information on the School’s and City of London’s privacy notices: 

Guildhall School privacy notice: https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/privacy

City of London privacy notice: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/privacy/

Please see the table below for an overview of how we may share information. Please note, this relates to higher education students and offer holders only. These lists are not exhaustive.

How do I disclose a disability on my application?  

When completing your online application, there will be a section in which you can declare a disability/condition and enter in any relevant information.  

How do I request reasonable adjustments for my audition/interview?

If you are invited to interview/audition, the information you entered about your disability/condition on your application will be passed onto the Learning Support Senior Advisor (member of the Student Affairs team). You will then be contacted to discuss your needs, for example any reasonable adjustments and/or access requirements.

Who does information relating to my disability/condition go to?

The information disclosed on your application is only accessible to the administrative team and the Learning Support Senior Advisor.

If we deem that information about your disability needs to be shared with the audition panel to make sure that you receive a fair assessment, we will share the following information (all information will be shared and considered confidentially):

• That you have declared a disability
• Reasonable adjustments required (as established between yourself and the Learning Support Senior Advisor).

If however after carefully considering your disability we do not feel your audition/interview panel needs to know this information, we will not share it with them.

Academic staff will not be made aware of disability information unless you progress to offer-holder stage and you complete the ‘Consent to Share’ process.