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Guidance for Non-Medical Helpers (NMHs) and Needs Assessors

This page contains information for Non-Medical Helper (NMH) providers and Needs Assessors regarding support available to disabled students at UCL.

UCL prides itself on having good working relationships with NMH suppliers who provide support to our disabled students. These relationships allow us to ensure and monitor the quality of support being provided to our students.

This page outlines key information that NMH providers should be aware of when working with UCL students. It includes:

Room bookings for NMH support

NMH providers are required to and responsible for arranging suitable meeting space to work with students. We expect that this space is agreeable to the student and meets their access needs.

Student Support and Wellbeing have limited access to space on the UCL campus and are therefore generally unable to provide space to external NMH providers. However we will always consider requests on a case by case basis. Please contact our main office number for any enquiries of this nature:

UCL does have a Room Bookings department, from which external organisations and companies can book a room (at cost). To book a room through our Room Bookings department please contact them directly:

Students can also book a Study Space within the UCL Libraries estate.

Provide this link to your student if they wish to book a study space in a UCL library

Access to some libraries may be limited to students who study within the linked department.

Access to UCL buildings

UCL has a very wide and often restrictive campus.

We have provided a list of NMH providers known to be working with UCL students to security services. It is expected that all support workers working on site at UCL have an ID card provided by the NMH provider they are employed by.

If staff providing support to students ‘in class’ find that they are having difficulty in accessing a particular part of our campus and require an UCL ID card, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing via email with the following information:

  • Name
  • Name of the NMH provider that you are working for
  • Name of the student you are supporting
  • Date of Birth
  • Mobile Phone Number
  • Name of the building(s) that you are trying to access

Where NMH providers are working in laboratories or workshops, a health and safety induction may be necessary. This will be at the discretion of the student’s department.

Finance information

If you are a new supplier to UCL, please ensure that you have provided us with the following information (on company headed or stamped paper) prior to beginning the assignment:

  • Full company name (as registered with Companies House)
  • Company Registration number
  • Head office address
  • Payment address (if different from head office)
  • Telephone Number
  • Email address for order
  • Remittance email address (if different)
  • Bank Details and a sentence stating “please pay via BACS payment”.

All invoices should be sent electronically to Student Support and Wellbeing marked for the attention of Disability Administrator:

UCL Student Centre

27-28 Gordon Square

London, WC1H 0AH

ssw-disabilitymentalhealth@ucl.ac.uk

Invoices should clearly state the Student Name and will need to be supported with electronic or paper based timesheets, with all sessions signed/approved by the student and the following statement: “please pay via BACS payment”

When DSA will be exceeded

NMH providers must notify UCL Student Support and Wellbeing if it is estimated that a student is going to exceed their DSA (Disabled Students' Allowances) provision. Payment of support above the student’s agreed DSA allowance will need to be pre-approved.

In these circumstances, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing as soon as it is clear that there will be an overspend (the student’s DSA2 will usually indicate this) to discuss what support can and will be funded by UCL.

Missed sessions and cancellations

UCL will fund sessions that are cancelled

Communication and feedback

If you need to discuss anything in relation to a student’s welfare, progression or general concerns, please direct your queries to Student Support and Wellbeing via email or via our Student of Concern portal (the latter should only be used when there are serious concerns about a student's health, safety or wellbeing).

Where communication is about a particular student, make sure that you include their name, student ID number (if you know it) and the type of NMH support being provided.

Please direct any other queries and requests for feedback to Student Support and Wellbeing via email.

Information for Needs Assessors

Support provided by UCL

UCL is a registered provider of Band 4 specialist study skills support for students with a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) or Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) diagnosis.

Our support is delivered on site at UCL’s Student Centre and remotely and we offer sessions Monday – Friday between 8.30am and 7pm.

Contact Details

View our rates for NMH provision

Other NMH support

Support for students within Bands 1 and 2

UCL will fund and support students who require support within Bands 1 and 2. UCL currently sources support from Randstad and Equality Focus. Should these suppliers be unable to fulfil a student’s timetable or access needs, we will reach out to other approved suppliers.

For exam scribes and readers, we will recruit from the UCL post graduate community.

Support for D/deaf students

UCL has a good working relationship with Deaf Student Solutions and Terptree and will source interpreters and communication support from these agencies when funding support for students, such as interim funding.

Specialist mentoring support

UCL works closely with Equality Focus and UMO to provide specialist mentoring support to our students, for both mental health mentoring and Autistic Spectrum Condition mentoring. Both providers have locations close to UCL in which to see students, making them a suitable option for our students.

Other useful information

UCL Management of Fire Safety

UCL Lone Working

UCL Security Services

Student Support and Wellbeing key contacts

Phone number for all contacts: +44 (0)20 7679 0100

For Needs Assessors and NMH providers with general enquiries email: ssw-disabilitymentalhealth@ucl.ac.uk

Natalie Humphrey

Head of Student Support and Wellbeing

(Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing)

n.humphrey@ucl.ac.uk

Michael Chung

Student Support and Wellbeing Manager

(Disability and Specific Learning Difficulties)

m.chung@ucl.ac.uk

Caroline Burkitt

Mental Health Coordinator

(for queries specifically relating to Specialist Mental Health and ASC Mentoring)

c.burkitt@ucl.ac.uk

Joanna Hooper

Disability Administrator

(for queries specifically relating to invoicing)

ssw-disabilitymentalhealth@ucl.ac.uk

Contact Student Support and Wellbeing

To speak to an adviser about specialist study skills tutoring:

Follow Student Support and Wellbeing

Meet the team

Find out more about who we are and what we do. 

Crisis support

Student Support and Wellbeing does not offer emergency support.

If you're in immediate danger of hurting yourself or others:

  • Go directly to the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department of your local hospital to get help
  • UCLH is the nearest A&E department to UCL’s main campus
  • Call 999 to request an ambulance if you are unable to reach the hospital yourself

If you're feeling distressed and need urgent support:

  • Contact your GP surgery to request an emergency appointment
  • If your GP surgery isn't open, call the free NHS out-of-hours medical line on 111 for help accessing the right services
  • You can call the Samaritans on 116 123 to talk to someone at any time, day or night
  • Nightline are a listening service for students, by students - they're available overnight on +44 (0)207 631 0101

Important links