Disabilities and Long-Term Conditions

Do I have to disclose my condition?

It is entirely your choice on whether you disclose information on your disability and/ or long-term condition.

You may find that your condition does not impact on your ability to study so you do not feel it is relevant to disclose, however, the University encourages students to declare specifically if your condition can have an impact on your ability to study.  Even if this impact is only felt at certain times, such as during a flare up, or when under stress.

How do I disclose a disability and/or long-term condition?

If you want to inform the Wellbeing and Disability Service of your disability and/or long-term condition, please complete a Student Support Form. We will not inform any department regarding your condition unless we have your permission to do so.  

International students

International students can access the Wellbeing and Disability Service as any enrolled student however, cannot apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance, as this is only open for UK home students.

If you have a disability and/or long-term condition, we encourage you to contact the Wellbeing and Disability Service so we can explain what support is available.

Personal care is support that you need to complete day-to-day activities and tasks as a result of your disability. Day-to-day activities may include:

• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Washing and personal hygiene
• Socialising
• Shopping

Personal care support is not provided by the university and as such, students need to make private arrangements for this level of support. 

Wherever you chose to study and if you are a UK student, personal care support should be provided from your home Social Services department.  This is the local authority where you are ‘ordinarily resident’ or where you feel that you have the strongest ties. You can search for your Social Services department on the Government website. It can take a long time to arrange personal care support (potentially up to a year) so we recommend that you contact your Social Services department as early as possible.

Unfortunately there is no UK government funding available for non-UK students to assist with personal care support. Personal care support can be expensive in the UK so you are advised to ensure that you have sufficient funding in place before arriving at Swansea University.

If you are a student who requires personal care support please contact the Wellbeing and Disability Service as soon as possible to discuss your needs, how to fund this type of support and what options are available to you. Please bear in mind, that arranging this type of support can be a long process and could take up to a year of planning to ensure support needs are met.