Disability

Let us know

There are several reasons why it’s a good idea to share information about your disability or long-term health condition with the University.

It helps us:

to work out what changes we might need to make, and what support we might be able to offer you
monitor our policies and practices to ensure that we treat disabled people fairly
provide statistics to our funders and regulators

Job applicants

If you’re applying for a job with us, we will invite you to let us know about your disability. This is part of the standard application process through our recruitment system.

If we offer you an interview, we'll then ask if you want us to make any particular arrangements or adjustments. Your input is vital as you know your condition better than anyone. Please don’t hesitate to let us know what will help you by completing the Disability Information Form and we will do our best to provide it.

Contact recruitment@newcastle.ac.uk if you want to discuss your situation, or have any problems completing your application.

Colleagues

As a colleague, there are two ways you can let us know about your disability. We know that conditions and their impact can vary, so use these whenever you need to update this information.

Monitoring: you can update your HR record using the MyDetails app, available from the Top Task menu on the staff homepage
Workplace adjustments: to discuss the way your disability affects you and what adjustments we may need to make

If you need any help, speak to your local People Services team.

Workplace adjustments

Newcastle University commit to making the changes that will provide an environment where all our staff can flourish.

We appreciate that not everyone will need adjustments. Some may require minor changes while others will require us to organise a package of adjustments.

Adjustments process

Your manager will:

discuss appropriate adjustments with you, involving People Services and any other required specialists
agree an individual adjustments plan, which we can update as and when appropriate
organise purchase of any equipment or special materials needed
review with you how well these adjustments are working and agree any further actions needed

There are a set of guidelines and forms that we use to inform this process.

Funding

Once we agree upon an adjustments plan, the University will fund the changes, in line with our legal obligations.

In some cases, we may ask you to apply for funding to assist with the adjustments, through Access To Work.

Contact us

If you need help, speak to the People Services team.

Disability Confident

We are a level 2 Disability Confident Employer after completing a self-assessment covering two themes. These themes were 'getting the right people for your business' and 'keeping and developing your people'.

The self-assessment process offered the opportunity to recognise existing practice in the institution. We currently

have an established guaranteed interview scheme
provide a range of recruitment platforms to post job adverts to
offer inclusive recruitment training to hiring managers

The self-assessment process has also inspired new activity. This includes:

encouraging recruitment colleagues to highlight our Disability Confident status when posting job adverts
encouraging our procurement team to get partners and suppliers to sign up to Disability Confident
creating bespoke disability recruitment events

NU Disability Interest Group

The NU Disability Interest Group is a disabled staff and student network at Newcastle University. We aim to:

promote accessibility and inclusion
encourage good practice in all the University does
promote positive attitudes towards disability
provide a forum for sharing ideas, experiences and expertise
influence University decision making and policy development

Student Wellbeing

A wide range of resources is available to help staff and students of Newcastle University to manage issues, remove barriers and promote access and inclusion.

Students should visit Student Wellbeing to find out more.

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