Student support

The Student Services Centre offers three layers of support for all students which are delivered through numerous different University services. The three layers are:

• Initial – Information, advice and guidance
• Advanced – Advice and detailed guidance
• Specialist – Skilled professional assessment, judgement and interventions

Our highly trained and competent Wellbeing Officers will work across the Initial and Advanced layers with onward referral for the Specialist layer whether that be academic or personal in nature. This is complementary to academic colleagues’ work as Personal Academic Tutors in areas of specialist academic judgement.

Student support is always available during working hours and offers a drop in service to all students for advice and guidance, referrals to internal and external support services and support regarding extenuating circumstances.

The Student Services Centre (SSC) is located in the Medical School building and is open from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday, where students can be seen by a Wellbeing Assistant, and if needed a follow up appointment with a Wellbeing Officer or Year Tutor will be made. Appointments can also be requested by emailing or calling. For problems that fall outside working hours and weekends all students are provided with dedicated phone line numbers to call.

Most students refer themselves for student support however members of staff may suggest that you see us if they have concerns about you. Occasionally a senior member of staff will recommend that a student sees someone from the Wellbeing Team to make sure that they are receiving the help that they need at a difficult time. Very occasionally students may let us know that they are worried about a fellow student. In these instances we would ask the student to come and speak to a member of the Welfare Team so that we can put in place any help and support that is needed.

You can also book a telephone appointment to have a conversation with a member of the team. We prefer students to have a face-to-face conversation if at all possible, but there are times when a phone conversation might be easier.

Our support sessions are all geared towards identifying a plan to help you move forward. This plan will be agreed between you and the team member who meets with you, actions could include;

• Suggesting you seek help from the University Counselling Service
• Referring you to Disability or Mental Health Advisory Service
• Referring you to academic support services
• Suggesting you see your GP
• Referring you to Occupational Health Services

Simply talking through your issues can often be a great help but staff will not necessarily be able to solve the problems you face; they will, however, provide you with support in deciding how best to deal with things, and they will support you while you access help from other places.

You may find that all you need is a one-off appointment, or you may need several visits. We welcome approaches from all students irrespective of how small or large they feel their problem is. 

Find out more about university student support

We hope that the Department of Biomedical Sciences feels like a friendly community. To help first year Biomedical Science students settle into this community, we pair up three or four First Year Biomedical Science students with two Second Year Biomedical Science students at the beginning of their course in our Buddy Scheme. The role of the Buddy Scheme is to help First Year students to settle into their new programme, orientate themselves within our buildings, discover how to access our computer systems, and generally ask those questions that they might not want to ask of a member of staff. Some of these groups just function for the first couple of weeks of term as new student settle in, others continue to meet and support one another longer term.

The Biomedical Sciences programme is part of the University’s PASS (Peer Assisted Study Scheme). Year two and three students are provided with training on how to facilitate study groups for Year one students to attend. The Year one students benefit from the guidance and support from students who “have already been through it”, whilst the Year two and three students benefit from reflecting on and re-enforcing their understanding of the concepts that they learnt in their first year. An all-round win- win and one that many of our students really appreciate.

Lesbian? Gay? Bisexual? Transgender? Questioning?

Our dedicated LGBTQ society caters for all LGBTQ members. Whether you’re a true scene queen, a bit more low-key, or not quite ready to come out, all are welcome! The society is mainly a social group, where members can get to know LGBTQ students in other years, and holds a variety of social events each year.

When students feel that there are curriculum and professional issues that need to be raised, the LGBTQ Society supports them and give them a louder voice.