Dealing with disclosure - advice for staff

Students with disabilities have many opportunities to disclose this to the University. Many students disclose on application, or at registration. Students can also disclose at any point during their studies. Whenever a student discloses a disability, we will contact them with information about support available. We also encourage students to visit AccessAbility to discuss their needs.

It may be the case that students do not want to disclose a disability until they require help, such as just before exam periods. They may feel that disclosing a disability may affect the perception staff develop of them. All people with disabilities should be reassured that any disclosure of disability will result in support and it is best done at the earliest opportunity so as to have that support in place in for when it is needed.

The University of Exeter is committed to creating a supportive and accessible environment in which all its students and staff can study and work.

Disclosure forms

If a student declares a disability, ask them to use a disclosure form and bring it to AccessAbility. You should also keep a copy.

We ask all students to fill in a disclosure form, and this means that staff are able to communicate with other staff in the University to make support arrangements. Without this permission, it is difficult to make arrangements outside of AccessAbility. Therefore, students should be advised of the benefits of disclosing. If they are still unsure, they should be signposted to AccessAbility to speak to a member of staff.

If a student declares a disability but does not want it to go any further, this decision should be recorded on a non-disclosure form. Staff should then send this from in a sealed envelope to AccessAbility with their name on it. This will enable the decision to be reviewed at a later date.

If a disability is disclosed to a member of staff then the whole University is deemed to know, this procedure allows an informed decision to be made about disclosure and protects individuals from situations where support is only accessed from one source making that support vulnerable. Ideally support should be documented and visible so that it can be evidenced and the benefits made transparent.

If you have any questions about this procedure, please contact AccessAbility.