Additional support guidance
Additional support for students with a medical condition or disability
At Kaplan, we’re dedicated to making sure that each and every one of our students has the opportunity to learn and succeed in the way that’s right for them. That’s why it’s important you let us know about any medical condition or disability you may have, so we can ensure you get the support you need.
How to receive the support you need
Follow these steps so that we have all the information to ensure your learning experience at your UK college meets your needs.
Here are some more details
How do I request support?
You can request support before you enrol by speaking with your Admissions Officer and filling in the Medical Conditions and Disability Disclosure Form.
You can find a link to this form on your offer letter, or, if you have already enrolled at your college, you can ask a member of the College’s Student Services team to give you the form.
How will you assess my needs?
Within two days of receiving your completed form, the College’s Student Services Team will get in touch with you to discuss your application.
The team will work with you very closely to establish what your needs are, and what kind of support is most suitable. They’ll do this by asking you what help you currently require in your day-to-day life, and what sort of support, if any, you were given at your previous educational institutions.
Where necessary, Kaplan will also consult with the Disability Services Department at your progression university, or with other specialist organisations, to ensure we can provide the best possible assistance.
How long will assessment take?
The College Student Services Team will aim to get back to you within 10 days of contacting you to discuss your needs, however it can sometimes take longer. Therefore, it is best to let us know about any additional support needs as soon as possible.
Do I need to provide any supporting documents?
To enable the College Student Services team to properly assess your needs, they will ask for some supporting documents which give further details about your condition or disability.
Below are some examples of what it would be helpful for you to provide:
- Disabled Assessment report
- Doctor’s letter detailing the impact of your disability on your ability to study/live independently
- Educational Psychologist’s report
Additionally, if your request relates to a medical condition, the following information will help us accurately assess your needs:
- Diagnosis and the date you were diagnosed
- Further information on your symptoms and how they affect your daily life and ability to study, such as fatigue or problems concentrating
- Information about the state of your condition, i.e., whether it is temporary or long-term
- Potential side effects of any medication you may be taking
Please note, these are only examples of the sort of information that could be useful in supporting your claim. You do not need to submit all of them, and you can provide us with any other documents that you think might be helpful too.
If your documents are in a language other than English, you will need to have them translated. The translated documents must be produced by an accredited translation agency and be signed off with a signed statement of the truth.
What are reasonable adjustments?
After your assessment has been completed, we will give you a personalised Student Support Plan detailing what, if any, support we can offer you during your studies. These bespoke arrangements are called reasonable adjustments.
The support you are offered will be unique to your needs, and so will vary by student and also by college.
Some examples of reasonable adjustments include:
- Additional time to complete exams
- Allowance to submit assignments within the late submission period without providing extra evidence, and without losing any marks
- Allowances for spelling and grammar mistakes
- Extra scheduled sessions with an Academic Support tutor to help you manage deadlines.
How do I accept my Student Support Plan?
Before arrangements for you can be finalised, you’ll need to formally accept your Student Support Plan. This is to confirm that you understand and accept the proposed adjustments. You can do this by returning a signed copy of the final plan to the College Support Team.
When you accept your Student Support Plan you consent to the information in it being shared with relevant people such as your tutors, course leaders and accommodation staff. This is to ensure that all adjustments can be implemented. Please be assured that information will only be shared on a strict need-to-know basis.
Any time we share information about you, it will be done in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), which is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), so your information will be completely secure.
Can I change my Student Support Plan?
Yes. If anything about your condition or disability changes and begins to affect your studies in a different way, you can present further evidence.
The College Support Team will then use this new evidence to carry out a secondary assessment and make further adjustments in necessary.
US and Canada students
All US and Canada colleges and universities are required by law to make reasonable adjustments to promote an accessible environment for students with disabilities. Many campuses provide services that address accessibility, accommodation, and assistive technology for a diverse range of needs.
Some services may include:
- Accessible classrooms, housing, labs, libraries, and transportation
- Guidance on requesting support, such as sign language interpreters, alternative formats, note-takers, extra time on tests,
- Extra academic advising and consultations
- Help seeking counseling services for anxiety, depression, or stress.
You can request support for your studies in the USA or Canada directly through your university’s accessibility services.
Non-disclosure and genuine claims
We understand that disability can be a sensitive topic and that you may not wish to call yourself disabled. We respect your right to keep information of this nature private, but please bear in mind that if you don’t disclose a medical condition or disability, we cannot guarantee that you will receive the support you need.
Students should also note that all claims must be genuine, and submitting a false claim or false documentation is a disciplinary offence under the Student Code of Conduct. We therefore reserve the right to check the validity of the document(s) submitted by contacting the third party directly.
Further information
We hope you find this guidance useful. We would like to encourage all students to apply regardless of their needs, and look forward to working with you to help you succeed in your studies. If you have any questions that are not addressed on this page, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help you.
