Assistance dogs and their owners are protected under the Equality Act 2010 and assistance animals are welcome on campus. This policy provides information and guidance surrounding assistance animals within the University, including requirements, relevant procedures and the responsibilities of staff, the owner and the University community.

To find out more, you can download the full Assistance Animals on Campus Policy from the University’s ’Equality, diversity and inclusion’ webpage.

The Disabled Person’s Travel Pass enables those who are living in Leicester and have a qualifying disability to obtain either:

(a) a concessionary travel pass that provides them with:

• free travel on local buses in all parts of England between 9:30am and 11pm Monday to Friday,
• free all-day travel at the weekend and on Bank Holidays,
• and free bus travel before 9:30am Monday to Friday as long as the journey begins in Leicester; or

(b) an annual bank payment of £22

The concessionary travel pass also permits free train travel at all times on train journeys between Leicester and stations in Leicester as well as journeys between Leicester and a number of stations within the Midlands. To find out more about the Disabled Person’s Travel Pass, including who is eligible and how to apply, visit the ’Apply for a disabled person’s bus pass’ webpage on the Leicester City Council website.

If you are not based in Leicester but live in England, you can contact your local council to find out who issues disabled persons’ travel passes in your area. You can also enter your postcode into the Government website’s postcode checker to be linked to relevant information available on your local council’s website.

Disability Rights UK is a leading UK organisation led by, run by and working for disabled people. Their website contains a lot of useful information and resources related to a wide range of areas and issues, including an extensive list of factsheets and guides pertaining to:

• benefits and welfare reform
• heating and home
• work and skills
• and much more

Visit the Disability Rights UK website for more information.

We recommend that you register with a doctor (called a GP, for ‘general practitioner’) at a health centre as soon as you arrive at university, so that you can be seen quickly if you have a health issue and be invited to have a COVID vaccination. You can register with the Victoria Park Health Centre which is next to the University campus, or you can find a health centre near you by searching on the NHS website

It is essential, if on regular medication, to change the pharmacy your medication is dispensed to, to a local pharmacy. This is so you will not have any issues missing medications. Your nearest pharmacy can be found by searching on the NHS website and you will need to contact your doctor before your move to Leicester so they can change pharmacies. Switching pharmacies is an easy process and can be done multiple times in a year to follow you if you return home at any point. The closest pharmacy to the City Accommodation is Vision Pharmacy and in the Village Accommodation the closest pharmacy is Asda Pharmacy

If you are an overseas student staying in the UK for more than six months, you will have to pay an Immigration Health Surcharge as part of your visa application. This entitles you to use the NHS for free, although you will still need to pay some charges - such as prescriptions, eye tests and dental care - in the same way as a UK resident.

LAMP Advocacy provide a free, independent mental health advocacy service to those within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, including support to families and carers. Support they can provide includes:

• exploring your concerns and exploring what options are available to you
• challenging local mental health teams
• supporting you to attend a GP or psychiatrist appointment
• phoning professionals involved with your care on your behalf

You can visit the LAMP Advocacy website for more information.

Created by the Leicester Partnership NHS Trust, this is an online space containing advice, information and support for those with autism, those caring for people with autism and those wanting to learn more. Topics and areas covered include:

• education and employment;
• health and lifestyle;
• benefits and finance;
• support groups;
• and more

To access this information and find out more, you can visit the Autism Space webpage.Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)

Vista works with and supports people with sight loss and their families within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. They provide specialist services and support for children and adults, including but not limited to:

• providing advice, information and support within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland hospitals
• making travel more accessible within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
• facilitating meet-ups and events for people affected by sight loss

For more information, you can visit the Vista website. You can also call them on 0116 249 8839 or email them at info@vistablind.org.uk. Further, more specific contact information can be found on their Contact us webpage.

AccessAble is a website that enables you to see how accessible somewhere is before visiting. The website uses symbols to help you view important accessibility information with more ease – you can find out more about the symbols they use by visiting their accessibility symbols guide. Through these accessibility symbols, you can find out:

• whether the building has level or ramped/sloped access
• whether doors are automatic or manual
• whether there are accessible toilets and/or accessible changing rooms
• whether braille is available
• whether there is a safe or quiet space
• and much more

You can find out more by visiting the AccessAble website. You can also find out the accessibility information of different buildings on campus through the AccessAble guide for the University of Leicester.

Disability Confident is a Government-run scheme that aims to aid employers in being more inclusive of disabled people within the workplace. There are three levels of the Disability Confident scheme and employers can demonstrate that they are Disability Confident—including what level they are—through displaying a Disability Confident symbol on their website and job adverts.

All Disability Confident employers have committed to offering an interview to a fair number of disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for a job, so this can be a useful symbol to look out for when exploring employment opportunities.

You can visit the Scope webpage on disability-friendly employers for more information on the Disability Confident scheme, including what the symbols look like and other useful information.

The Disabled Persons Railcard is for people with a disability that makes train travel difficult. It enables you to get a third off train travel for yourself and an adult who is accompanying you.

You can visit the Disabled Persons Railcard website for more information, including eligibility and pricing information.

Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is a government funded benefit that can help cover any extra costs you have whilst studying that are a direct result of your disability. You do not need to pay this back and can be claimed no matter what your financial situation is. Some potential services/items that which DSA can help you for include:

• British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter or specialist note taker
• Travel expenses for your course or placement because of your disability
• A new laptop if you are assessed as needing one (ie. you do not already have one or your current one does not meet your study needs) – you would need to contribute the first £200 to this but if you are able to contribute more, you are able to apply for a better laptop
• A free personal printer and printing supplies if found necessary
• Specialist equipment such as ergonomic chairs, computer accessories and more

It is advised that you apply at your earliest convenience as the process can take multiple months and it always best to have your support in place before your start your degree. However, you can apply for DSA at any point of your university journey such as second-year. The application to apply for DSA becomes available once you have submitted your main student finance application which includes tuition and maintenance loans.

You can find out more about DSA by talking to the University's AccessAbility Centre or reading the information found in the following websites and resources.

Government website - Further information and advice, including application guidance and eligibility criteria.

University of Leicester AccessAbility website - Provides specific information.

Disability Rights UK website - Further information and advice.

UCAS website - Further information and advice, including information about what questions may be asked of you during your needs assessment.

Remtek Systems website - A company that provides DSA approved equipment which you can look through to see what equipment is on offer and might help yourself. This is only one company that provides equipment, there are others.

Ran by Disability Rights UK, the Disabled Students Helpline can offer you information and advice by phone and email on a range of topics, including:

• applying to university
• telling people about your disability
• financial assistance
• your rights in post-16 education and training under the Equality Act 2010
• and more

You can find out more by visiting the Disabled Students Helpline webpage on the Disability Rights UK website. Disability Rights UK also has a comprehensive collection of free factsheets and guides that you may find helpful, including student-specific resources.

Contact details for the Disabled Students Helpline:

• Telephone: 0330 995 0414 (calls from a landline are free, but mobile providers may charge)
• Telephone opening hours: 11am–1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Email: students@disabilityrightsuk.org

At Live Well Leicester, free support and services can be accessed on the following topics: stop smoking, managing alcohol intake, managing weight, healthy eating and increasing levels of physical activity. In order to access this service, your GP needs to refer you and you are given a 12 week free programme to help you in all relevant areas. Information on this service can be found on this website with a further breakdown for each category. For individuals with accessibility needs, there is a dedicated team specifically trained to work with individuals with disabilities. When trying to increase your physical activity levels, for example, you are matched with a coach who will show you which exercises you can physically do safely.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit that is not calculated using the amount of money you have, from either income or savings. It can even be claimed if you’re a student, working or both. This is based off of your ability, or inability, to do certain everyday tasks because of a long-term physical or mental health condition, or disability.

A PIP staff member working for the government would assess your daily living needs and mobility. How much money you receive will depend on the extent to which you need help and whether you need help in relation to one or both parts.

It is strongly advised that you call free PIP claim line at 0800 917 2222 at your earliest convenience. The process is well known to be long and stressful but if you are approved for a PIP allowance, this allowance will be backdated to when you first started your claim. So if you call the claim line in March but only begin filling out the paperwork in May, you will be given a lump sum of your weekly allowance since the day you started your claim.

There are several organisations that provide specialist help both online and in-person with the application process and understanding how to best utilise the benefits on offer from the government.

Government website- Provides specific information.

Citizen’s Advice website - Further information and advice, including application guidance.

Citizen’s Advice in-person - Use this postcode searcher online to find your closest advice site. 

Disability Rights UK Website PDF Version + Word Document Version - Application guidance and eligibility criteria.

Saffron Lane Resource Centre - Provide in-person support on government benefit schemes including PIP.

Advicelocal website - Lists all advice services in your local area that relates to different aspects of disabled and social care life. 

Most adults in England have to pay for their prescriptions, including university students. This is not always the case, however, such as:

• when obtaining items that are always free (eg. contraceptives and medicines prescribed for hospital inpatients)
• when the person is eligible for free prescriptions

A list of instances in which a person is eligible for free prescriptions can be found on the ’Who can get free prescriptions’ webpage (NHS). Two instances in which a person is eligible for free prescriptions are where they:

• have a specified medical condition (a list of eligible medical conditions can be found on the NHS Business Service Authority’s ’Medical exemption certificates’ webpage)
• have a continuing physical disability that prevents them from going out without help from another person

In both instances, you will need to apply for a medical exemption certificate to access free prescriptions; this can be done by requesting an FP924A (‘MedEx’) application form from your GP. Other ways in which you may be able to get your prescriptions for free or at a reduced cost include:

• NHS Low Income Scheme. If you have a low income, you may be able to receive full help or partial help with your prescription costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. For more information, including how to apply, you can visit the NHS Low Income Scheme webpage.
• Prescription prepayment certificate (PPC). When you pay for your prescriptions, you are charged per item. With a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), you pay a set amount and are covered for all NHS prescriptions, no matter how many items you need; this can be helpful in instances where you know you will have to pay for a lot of NHS prescriptions. For more information on PPCs, including how to buy one, you can visit the ’Save money with a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC)’ webpage (NHS).

Scope is a disability equality charity in England and Wales. They provide practical information and emotional support as well as campaigning with the aim of creating a fairer society.

Their website contains a lot of useful information and resources, as well as information on how to get involved with their work, their current campaigns and more.

Visit the Scope website for more information.

The CEA Card is a national card scheme that enables a disabled cinema guest to receive a free extra ticket when they purchase a cinema ticket for themselves. The aim of the scheme is to make cinemas more accessible and the free ticket is provided so someone can accompany you to provide any assistance you may need.

Most cinemas participate, including Leicester’s Phoenix Cinema, Showcase Leicester De Lux and Odeon Leicester. You can use the CEA Card website’s postcode searcher to find participating cinemas near you.

You can visit the CEA Card website for more information, including eligibility and pricing information.