Students with additional needs
Students with Disabilities
Many learners with disabilities and additional needs study successfully. You can get support to suit your personal circumstances, and there’s also extra funding available to help with the costs of attending a college or university. It’s important to talk to your local authority or the disability adviser at the college or university to find out what support is available before you apply for a course.
Disability Advisers
Every college and university in Fife and Tayside has an office providing support for students with disabilities and all colleges and universities are committed to an equal opportunities policy. Staff will be able to give you guidance and information about the services and equipment they have available to help you, advise you about any additional funding you might be entitled to, and make arrangements with academic staff to facilitate your learning.
Once you have chosen a course, advisers will help you work out whether the teaching and assessment methods for the course are appropriate for your situation, and may be able to make special arrangements for exams. They will also be able to tell you about other sources of assistance, such as sign language interpreters or specialist software that is available to help you with your studies.
Disability advisers will also be able to help you with information about getting around campus if you have mobility problems.
Most institutions also have some accessible accommodation. Contact their accommodation officers for more information.
For funding advice see the following guide:
Dyslexia
About 10% of the population have some degree of dyslexia. Colleges and universities in Fife and Tayside provide support to help dyslexic students succeed in their courses. You can get assistance with study skills, you may qualify for extra time to complete exams, and you may be eligible for financial support to pay for specialist software and equipment. The disability advisers at colleges and universities will be able to tell you more about what they offer.
Other organisations that can provide information on education and dyslexia include:
- The Scottish Dyslexia - www.countmein.org.uk
- The British Dyslexia Association- www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
Students from ethnic minority groups
Diverse Routes into Higher Education, www.diverseroutes.co.uk produced by The Open University in Scotland, is designed to provide a coherent source of information and support to encourage new and settled migrants, and black and minority ethnic groups including refugees and asylum seekers, to explore the benefits of higher education.
The website contains general information about accessing higher education, including financial support, credit transfer and recognition of prior learning, professional development and English language courses. There is also local information about access and English language courses, as well as local contacts for further advice and support.
What next?
Now that you have explored some of the issues associated with learning why don’t you read some of our Inspired learners experiences:
Karen Ross
