Published for 2024-25
8.1 What is Support to Study?
1. | The Support to Study Procedure applies to students following undergraduate, graduate and taught postgraduate programmes. It can also be used to support other students following taught modules, such as affiliate students. |
2. | UCL has a wide range of options to support you during your time with us, including Extenuating Circumstances, Summaries of Reasonable Adjustments, Exam Adjustments, Academic Adjustments and Interruption of Study. You are encouraged and expected to engage actively with these processes and to make full use of the support available to you through UCL Student Support and Wellbeing. |
3. | Your Department or Faculty may identify a need to use this Support to Study Procedure if you have already engaged with UCL’s standard support processes (such as Extenuating Circumstances, Summaries of Reasonable Adjustments etc.) but they are not providing the right level of support for you. This will usually be because you are having significant, persistent or long-term difficulties with one or more of the following: |
a) | Engaging with classes, scheduled activities, group work and/ or online participation | |
b) | Completing formative assessments, submitting coursework, attending exams or otherwise making an attempt at assessments | |
c) | Being unable to study at the level and intensity required by your programme | |
d) | Circumstances where a student has exhibited behaviour which would normally be handled under the Student Disciplinary Code and Procedures, but which may be (or is suspected to be) the result of an underlying physical and/or mental health condition. |
4. | You may need extra support for a wide range of reasons such as ongoing or repeated extenuating circumstances, a disability, a medical or mental health condition, caring or parenting responsibilities, commitments as a critical worker (e.g. NHS staff), or you are affected by long-term traumatic events such as war, harassment or discrimination. You may be affected by more than one issue or there may not be an underlying reason. This Support to Study Procedure is designed to put in place a tailored package of measures to support and safeguard both you as an individual and the UCL community. |
5. | It is important to note that Support to Study is designed to help if UCL’s normal Student Support Framework mechanisms are not providing the right level of support. It should not be used for occasional or isolated incidents of extenuating circumstances, non-attendance or failure at assessment, for example. |
6. | The need to use Support to Study will be identified by your Department or Faculty; you will not be able to apply for Support to Study yourself. However, if you think that you need extra support, please speak to your Personal Tutor, Student Adviser or another trusted member of staff in your Department, who can help you to look at your options. |
Help and advice | |
7. | If you need help with this procedure, further information about the support services available to you can be found in Section 1.2: Help and Advice. |
Looking after your data | |
8. | UCL will look after your data carefully and sensitively. Where your personal information needs to be shared with members of the UCL community in order to facilitate your support, this will only be done with your consent and on a 'need-to-know' basis. Section 1.4: Confidentiality and Looking After Your Data includes more information. |
If you do not engage with the Support to Study process | |
9. | Support to Study is, first and foremost, designed to help and support you so that you can get the most out of your time with UCL. However if, at any stage, you do not engage with the process, do not respond to communications or do not attend a meeting, your Faculty Tutor (or their nominee) may require you to attend a Mandatory Faculty Interview under the procedures in Chapter 6, Section 4. |
8.2 If there is an immediate risk of harm
1. | Exceptionally, there may be circumstances where UCL needs to take swift action to protect the safety and wellbeing of an individual student or the wider UCL community. This might include circumstances where: |
a) | There is a serious and immediate risk of harm to you or others. | |
b) | You are unable to study, work and/ or live co-operatively and in close proximity with others. | |
c) | Your conduct is impacting negatively on the wellbeing of fellow students and staff. | |
d) | UCL considers that the needs, rights, safety and security of the UCL community outweigh those of an individual. | |
e) | There is a serious risk to the University’s reputation. |
Student of Concern Procedure | |
2. | If there is an immediate risk of harm, the Student of Concern Procedure should be used in the first instance. |
3. | UCL Student Support and Wellbeing also publish a range of policies and protocols for emergencies, including:
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4. | This Support to Study Procedure may subsequently be used to provide you with longer-term help. This may include using the expedited procedure in Section 8.6: Direct Referrals. |
8.3 Stage 1: Support Plans
1. | The first step in the process is normally to set up a Support Plan. A Support Plan is a tailored support package that includes actions for you and your Department. |
2. | Actions can take a wide range of forms depending on your specific circumstances. The following examples are provided to help you understand the types of support that might be available (please note that some adjustments are subject to eligibility criteria): |
Recommendations for you to apply for:
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Recommendations for you to contact and engage with:
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Actions for your Department:
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Actions for you: |
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3. | All UCL programmes require you to reach specific academic standards in order to be awarded a UCL qualification. Some programmes also have Fitness to Practise requirements or Professional Competency Standards (e.g. for clinicians or teacher training). UCL cannot reduce or change our academic or professional standards, but we can provide additional support to help you attain them. |
Setting up a Support Plan | |
4. | The Support Plan ‘Author’ will normally be your Departmental Tutor. Support Plans may also be set up by your Faculty Tutor or their nominee, or the Vice-Provost (Education & Student Experience) or their nominee. |
5. | Support Plans should be set up in a meeting between you and the author, which may be in person or online. The author may invite your Personal Tutor, Student Adviser or another appropriate member of departmental staff to attend the meeting. You may invite a friend, who should be a member of staff at UCL, Students’ Union Adviser, or a student currently registered at UCL. |
6. | At the meeting, you will be given the opportunity to discuss your difficulties and the steps which you, your Department and your Faculty might be able to take to support you. |
7. | Templates are available to departments to help them write an effective plan. |
8. | The Support Plan must specify a duration and when your progress will be reviewed. |
9. | Support Plans should be sent to you as soon as possible and no more than ten working days after your meeting with the author. |
10. | If you do not engage with the process, do not respond to communications or do not attend a meeting, your Faculty Tutor (or their nominee) may require you to attend a Mandatory Faculty Interview. |
8.4 Stage 2: Reviewing Your Support Plan
1. | Your Support Plan will be reviewed at an appropriate point in time to ensure that it is supporting you effectively. Departments should aim to schedule the review around four weeks (and no more than eight weeks) after the Support Plan is first set up. |
2. | The review should take the form of a meeting between you and the author, which may take place in person or online. The author may invite your Personal Tutor, Student Adviser or another appropriate member of departmental staff to attend the meeting. You may invite a friend, who should be a member of staff at UCL, Students’ Union Adviser, or a student currently registered at UCL. |
3. | The review meeting will lead to one of the following outcomes: |
a) | If your Support Plan is working effectively, it may be established as a long-term support mechanism for you. Your Department should arrange periodic check-ins with you to ensure that the Support Plan is continuing to work effectively. If your circumstances change, or your Support Plan stops working effectively, either you or your Department can initiate a more formal Stage 2 Review at an appropriate time. The Stage 2 Review may lead to a referral to the Support to Study Panel (see Stage 3 below). | |
b) | If the Support Plan has worked effectively and you are no longer having difficulties, the author may close your Support Plan and you will not be required to undertake any further actions. | |
c) | If the Support Plan is not working effectively and you are still having significant and persistent difficulties: |
i. | You will normally be referred to the UCL Support to Study Panel (see Stage 3 below), or | ||
ii. | The author may draw up a revised Support Plan with new or amended actions for you and your Department. If you are given a revised Support Plan, a second review meeting should be scheduled for an appropriate date. You will normally only be given a revised Support Plan on one occasion – if you are continuing to have difficulties, your Department should refer you to the Support to Study Panel for further help (see Stage 3 below). |
4. | You should receive the decision in writing within five working days of the Review Meeting. |
8.5 Mandatory Faculty Interruption | |
1. | In some circumstances your Faculty Tutor may, in consultation with UCL's Casework Team, interrupt your studies with immediate effect. A Mandatory Faculty Interruption is a supportive alternative to UCL's Academic Insufficiency Procedure, where there is a risk of your studies being suspended or terminated. |
2. | The mandatory faculty interruption will normally only be implemented when: a) A review of your Support Plan and support mechanisms have been ineffective, AND; b) The Faculty judge that your overall engagement with your studies, including attendance and assessment is not at a sufficient level, despite supportive mechanisms being in place, which results in your successful progression or award being deemed at high risk during the remainder of the academic session, AND; c) The Faculty judge that it is in your best interests to have a break from your studies whilst you focus on your wellbeing or other circumstances affecting your studies. |
3. | Whilst you are on interruption, the UCL Interruption of Study Procedure will apply. |
a) If you believe the decision made by your Faculty Tutor to interrupt your studies is unreasonable in your circumstances, you may submit an appeal to the Director of Education Services, via casework@ucl.ac.uk |
8.6 Direct Referrals
1. | Exceptionally, it may be necessary to refer you directly to the Support to Study Panel without putting a Support Plan in place first. This may be needed if, for example, you have very complex needs, you have already had a Support Plan in the past, or if you need more urgent help. |
2. | If your Department feels that a direct referral is needed, they will contact your Faculty Tutor (or their nominee) who will review your circumstances and make the referral if they think that would be the most effective and appropriate way of supporting you. |
Provisional Mandatory Interruption | |
3. | In very exceptional circumstances it may be necessary for UCL to immediately apply a Provisional Mandatory Interruption until the Support to Study Panel can meet. This should only be used when there are no other ways for UCL to ensure your safety or the safety of others. |
4. | A Provisional Mandatory Interruption must be approved by the Director of Education Services or Director of Student Operations as appropriate or their nominee. The Support to Study Panel will then meet as quickly as is practicable. |
8.7 Stage 3: UCL Support to Study Panel
1. | If your Support Plan is not providing the right level of support, or you are continuing to have significant and persistent difficulties that are affecting your studies, you may be referred to the UCL Support to Study Panel. The Panel is a small group of independent and experienced UCL staff who can look at the difficulties that you are having and how best UCL can support you. |
Setting up a Support to Study Panel | |
2. | The Secretary of the Support to Study Panel should let you know of the decision to hold a Panel as early as possible: |
a) | If you are referred via a Support Plan, you should receive notice within fifteen working days of your Support Plan Review Meeting. | |
b) | If you have a Direct Referral from your Faculty Tutor (or their nominee) i.e. without a Support Plan being put in place first, the Secretary will let you know you as soon as possible. |
3. | The Secretary will send you: |
a) | An invitation to agree a suitable date, time, and location for the Panel meeting. | |
b) | An invitation for you to submit a statement and/ or supporting evidence (see below). | |
c) | An invitation for you to bring a friend – this may be a friend, relative, Students’ Union Adviser or another person who can support you through the process. Please note that, while the person may be legally qualified, they will not be acting in a legal capacity. | |
d) | A link to these Support to Study procedures. |
Your statement and supporting evidence | |
4. | You will be invited to submit a statement in advance of the meeting. This is optional, but it can help the Panel to understand your circumstances and the difficulties that you have been having. Your statement can be written or you may prefer to submit a video or audio recording. You will also have the opportunity to talk about your circumstances at the Panel meeting itself. |
5. | Your statement should include details of any ‘mitigating factors’ which you wish to be taken into consideration, such as Extenuating Circumstances, a disability or long-term medical or mental health condition, or other difficulties that are affecting your ability to study. |
6. | You will also be asked if you would like to submit any supporting evidence e.g. from a registered doctor or medical practitioner (see Section 1.5: Providing Supporting Evidence). |
7. | If you are in touch with UCL Student Support and Wellbeing or UCL Student Psychological and Counselling Services you may be able to ask them to provide some supporting evidence. |
8. | The Students’ Union Advice Service can advise you on how to put together your statement and evidence, and what it would be helpful and appropriate to include. |
9. | You will need to send the Secretary your statement and supporting evidence at least two working days before the Support to Study Panel meeting. |
10. | If you need more time to gather evidence, you should submit your statement on time and tell the Secretary that your evidence is to follow. The Panel Chair will assess whether the Panel meeting should be postponed until your evidence is available, or whether the Panel should meet and allow you to submit your evidence afterwards. |
You Department’s statement and supporting evidence | |
11. | The Secretary will also write to your Support Plan Author and Faculty Tutor (or their nominee) to ask them to provide a statement. This may include a case history, supporting evidence and any recommendations which they may have for possible panel outcomes. |
Panel membership | |
12. | The Panel will include: |
a) | A Faculty Tutor (or equivalent) from another faculty, who will be Chair of the Panel; and | |
b) | A Sabbatical Officer of the Students' Union UCL; and | |
c) | The Director of Student Support and Wellbeing or their nominee; and | |
d) | The Director of Education Services or their nominee (who may act as Chair if required). |
13. | The quorum (minimum number of members present) for the Support to Study Panel is four, which must include the Chair or their nominee. |
14. | A Panel Secretary will also be appointed and will be responsible for communicating with you, circulating papers, organising meetings etc. |
Panel meeting | |
15. | The Panel meeting should take place no more than one calendar month after you receive the decision from the Support Plan Author, unless: |
a) | There are reasonable circumstances that make this impractical, in which case you will be kept informed of this; or | |
b) | You have reasonable grounds to request a postponement of the Panel meeting to a later date. |
16. | The Secretary will provide both you and the Panel members with: |
a) | A copy of your Support Plan(s). | |
b) | Your statement and/ or supporting evidence. | |
c) | The statement and/ or supporting evidence from your Support Plan Author/ Faculty Tutor. | |
d) | The Panel may also invite UCL Student Support and Wellbeing to provide a statement, if you are in touch with their service. |
17. | The meeting may take place in person or online. An audio recording of the meeting will be taken to act as a record in the event of an appeal. |
18. | At the meeting, the Support to Study Panel will: |
a) | Ask you about any mitigating factors which you would like to be taken into consideration and what outcomes and/or support you would like to see. | |
b) | Discuss how UCL can provide immediate and/ or longer-term support with your mental and/ or physical health and wellbeing. | |
c) | Explain the possible outcomes of the meeting. |
19. | If you do not engage with the Support to Study Panel process, do not respond to communications or do not attend the Panel meeting, the Chair may agree to hold the Panel meeting in your absence and/ or your Faculty Tutor (or their nominee) may require you to attend a Mandatory Faculty Interview, under the procedures in Chapter 6, Section 4. |
8.8 Outcomes of the Support to Study Panel
1. | Following the meeting, the Panel will agree a plan of action. The Panel should consult with your Department and/ or Faculty to determine what outcomes are possible and appropriate on your particular programme. This may include one or more of the following: |
Outcome | What this means |
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1. New Support Plan |
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2. Any Extenuating Circumstances mitigation |
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3. Summary of Reasonable Adjustments (SoRA) |
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4. Academic Adjustments |
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5. Exam Adjustments |
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6. Change of Programme Diet and Module Substitutions |
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7. Mandatory Deferral with Tuition in specified module(s) |
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8. Mandatory Repeat in specified module(s) |
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10. Mandatory Change of Mode of Attendance |
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11. Mandatory Programme Transfer |
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Once a decision has been made | |
2. | After the Panel, you will be invited to a follow-up meeting with the Chair or their nominee to discuss the outcome. |
3. | The meeting may take place in person or online. The Chair may invite your Personal Tutor, Student Adviser or another appropriate member of departmental staff to attend the meeting. You may invite a friend, who should be a member of staff at UCL, Students’ Union Adviser, or a student currently registered at UCL. |
4. | You should also receive a formal written notification of the decision within ten working days of the follow-up meeting. If you do not wish to attend the follow-up meeting, or you do not respond to reasonable attempts to communicate with you, the Panel will issue a written decision. |
5. | The outcome of the Panel should not be formally applied to your student record until the ten-working day appeals window has closed (see Section 8.9 below). |
8.9 Appealing a Support to Study Panel decision
1. | If you are dissatisfied with a decision made by the Support to Study Panel, appeals may be considered on the grounds that there was a significant procedural irregularity in the conduct of the Support to Study Panel that had a material impact on the fairness of the panel outcome. |
2. | Appeals must be submitted to the Support to Study Panel Secretary within ten working days of the official notification of the panel’s decision. |
3. | Appeals will be considered by a senior member of staff nominated by the Vice-Provost (Education & Student Experience)/ Director of Education Services or Director of Student Operations as appropriate. The Appeal Assessor must not have been involved in the case previously. |
4. | Where an appeal is upheld in part or in full the Appeal Assessor will either: |
a) | Request that the original Support to Study Panel reviews its decision, with recommendations as required. | |
b) | Appoint a new Support to Study Panel with members who were not involved in the original decision to look at the case and make a new decision. |
5. | Where an appeal is upheld, an outcome letter will be issued explaining what actions will be taken. A Completion of Procedures letter can be issued upon request. |
6. | Where an appeal is not upheld and is rejected the Appeal Assessor must provide a clear reason for any decisions reached and confirm that the original decision being appealed against will stand. |
7. | The outcome of an appeal that is not upheld will be issued in the form of a Completion of Procedures letter. |
8. | If you remain dissatisfied, once you have received a Completion of Procedures letter confirming that the internal procedures of UCL have been concluded, you have the right to submit a complaint for review to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA). OIA complaints must be submitted no more than 12 months from the date of the Completion of Procedures letter, using the OIA’s Scheme Application form, available from the OIA website. |
8.10 Flow Chart: Support to Study Procedure
Solid boxes/ lines indicate expected process. Dotted lines indicate other possible options. |