Disability Support and Inclusion
Disability declaration information
York St John University is committed to providing an environment in which people feel able to declare a disability.
Declaring a disability
Declaring a disability is not compulsory and many disabled students find they are able to manage the demands of their course by using the support the university has in place for all students.
However, if you want to have individualised reasonable adjustments put in place for your course, you will need to make a formal declaration to the University. You can do this when you initially apply to study with us, or by registering with the Disability Support and Inclusion Team (DSIT). You can register with us at any time during your course.
Your course
Declaring a disability will not prevent an offer of a place on a course. Offers of places are made on academic merit in line with our admissions policy. Declaring a disability when you apply makes sure that reasonable adjustments can be put in place to help you succeed in your course.
There may be extremely rare cases when it is not possible for sufficient reasonable adjustments to be put in place to help a student access a course. If, in the unlikely event a course cannot be adjusted to meet your needs, this empowers you to make an informed decision about whether you would wish to consider a different course or a different university.
Confidentiality
We recognise that sharing information about your disability can be difficult and we would like to reassure you that we treat the information you provide as sensitive personal data. Information such as diagnostic reports, medical evidence or DSA Needs Assessments received will be held confidentially within the service, and not shared any wider.
All personal information gathered and held by York St John University is treated with the care and confidentiality required by the data protection legislation (the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) Data Protection Act 2018).
How we share information
If you would like to have reasonable adjustments put in place for you, the Disability Support and Inclusion team will need to inform the relevant staff across the university who are responsible for arranging the adjustments.
By agreeing to have a Learner Adjustment Plan (LAP), you are consenting to the adjustments being communicated to the relevant teams. Only the required adjustments, and not the nature of your disability will be communicated to these staff. You will have the option to add a self-declared statement about your disability to the LAP if you want the details of your disability to be shared with other staff in the University such as your tutors.
If there is no requirement for any adjustments, and you do not wish for staff to be made aware of your disability, we would not need to share any information. You can also withdraw consent at any time by emailing us on disabilityadvice@yorksj.ac.uk.
In exceptional circumstances, the University may have to disclose information about you. Where possible, this will be discussed with you first. These exceptional circumstances are if the staff member is:
- Concerned about a risk of you seriously harming yourself or others
- Required by a court of law to provide information
- Concerned about child protection, drug trafficking or terrorism issues
Specific and detailed information about our data storage and sharing can be found in the Appendix dropdown below.
Appendix: Disability Support and Inclusion data storage and sharing
| Data we collect | Storage and sharing | Who accesses this data | Support enabled by this data |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSIT Registration Information | Stored on our DSIT system, and is accessible in a report by teams who may need to ensure the campus and course is accessible to you. |
Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT, and relevant teams as required:
|
|
| Medical evidence and DSA Assessment of Need | Stored on our DSIT system. | Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT. | Assessment of your support needs and eligibility for funding of support (for example, DSA). |
| Meeting notes and email contact with you | Stored on our DSIT system. | Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT. | Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT. |
| DSA award information (DSA2) | Stored on our DSIT system, and is accessible in a report by teams who need to make adjustments. |
Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT, and relevant teams as required:
|
|
| Learner Adjustment Plan (LAP) adjustments | Stored on our DSIT system, and is accessible in a report by teams who need to make adjustments. |
Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT, and relevant teams as required:
|
|
| Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) | Created by DSIT and shared with relevant University teams. |
Wellbeing, Welfare, DSIT, and relevant teams as required:
|
Evacuation in the event of an emergency. |
Contact us
If you have any questions or concerns about the way we collect and use your personal data, please contact the University's Data Protection Officer (University Secretary) by emailing us@yorksj.ac.uk.
For more information about the processing of your data, visit our Student and Applicant Data Protection Statements.
