Department of History

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Students with disabilities

 Primary source in the archive of the Arts and Social Sciences Library The Department welcomes inquiries and applications through UCAS from students with disabilities. 

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines disability as 'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day to day activities'. The definition of 'day to day activities' includes: mobility, manual dexterity, lifting, hearing, eyesight, speech, memory and the ability to concentrate, learn or understand. UCAS classifies disabilities under the following categories: dyslexia; blind/partially sighted; deaf or hard of hearing; wheelchair user or mobility difficulties; individuals who need personal care or support; individuals with mental health difficulties; and individuals who have an unseen disability, e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, heart condition. You can get more advice from UCAS. The Department of History accepts these definitions of disability and its policy is informed by them. 

The Department is fully committed to providing support for students with disabilities and is, for example, willing to help to arrange where necessary for disability training for staff, for teaching notes and examination papers in alternative formats (e.g. Braille, large print), for extra time in examinations etc. Every student in the Department is assigned a personal tutor at the beginning of the academic year but students with disabilities are also welcome to consult the departmental disability advisor. If you would like to be put in touch with the disability advisor please email hums-schooloffice@bristol.ac.uk or telephone (0117) 331 7932. The Department believes that students with disabilities are individuals with a wide and diverse range of needs. As a result we have chosen not to develop a blanket policy on disabilities but seek instead to provide a flexible range of resources and services that best meet the needs of individual students. Those needs will be assessed through discussion between the student, the Department's disability officer and the university's Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students' Unit. 

Most parts of the Department have wheelchair access and there is a disabled toilet. We are situated at the centre of the main campus area, in close proximity to the student refectory, the computing service and the Arts and Social Sciences Library and around 10 minutes from the Student's Union. All these buildings are accessible to students with disabilities and the library has a full-time member of staff dedicated to developing and providing services for disabled users. University residential accommodation for students is within a two-mile radius of the main campus. Three of the university's Halls of Residence have study-bedrooms suitable for certain wheelchair users and other residences have study bedrooms that have been adapted for deaf students and for those with a visual impairment. 

The Department works with the University of Bristol's Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students' Unit in order to maximise the service it provides to its disabled students. The  Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students' Unit is based in the student's union building and can provide a range of advice and assistance. Students thinking about applying to study history at Bristol are welcome to contact Fernando Cervantes and/or Lin Reynolds at the Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students' Unit. If you are made a conditional or unconditional offer of a place you are encouraged to make contact as early as possible thereafter as it does take some time to apply for financial allowances and for the unit to assess individual needs. The Access Unit for Deaf and Disabled Students' Unit provides a range of services to students including information on the Disabled Students Allowance, radio aids, portable induction loops, interpreters (BBL and SSE), lip-speakers, computer-based note-taking and text display, video note-taking, transcription services and trained volunteer sighted guides. You can get more information about the Disabled Students' Allowance.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 makes it unlawful to discriminate against people who have a disability. The University of Bristol has developed its guidelines in line with this Act. The Department of History adheres to the university's policies on equal opportunities and disability discrimination. As a result we will not tolerate discrimination or bullying of any member of staff or student with disabilities and will take action against any of our students found to be involved in such. Any instance of such behaviour should be reported either to the department's disability advisor or to the senior tutor and will be treated in confidence. You can also find out more information on the University's policies on Dignity at work and study (PDF 132kb) and on equality and diversity.

Finally there are a range of facilities, agencies and organisations who work with and for students with disabilities. Listed below are links to a few of these. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list but simply a place to start. 

Note: some of the documents on this page are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader