The School of Medicine acknowledges that disabled people add value to the student body and the medical profession and welcomes applications from disabled people [1]. The University will make reasonable adjustments to help ensure that disabled applicants have full and equal access to our admissions procedures and courses. The judgment about an individual applicant’s academic suitability will be kept separate from any consideration of the applicant’s disability-related support requirements.
Applicants are invited to indicate their disability status on their application form and we strongly encourage applicants to disclose anydisability. Where candidates choose not to disclose their disability this may make it more difficult, or in some cases impossible, for the University to make adjustments. Disabled applicants are also advised to contact the University’s Disability Team (part of the University’s Equality Service) once an application has been submitted through UCAS, to discuss any support requirements they may have in relation to the programme for which they have applied.
If any applicant feels that their disability has meant that they faced exceptional circumstances that should be taken into account by the University when considering their application, they should refer to section 4.12 of The University’s Undergraduate admissions policy (www.leeds.ac.uk/admissionspolicy).
The admissions process is covered by the University’s Policy on Equality and Diversity, which is available from the University's Equality Service at www.equality.leeds.ac.uk. We strive to adhere to the GMC’s Gateways Guidance on this issue (www.gmc-uk.org/education/undergraduate/gateways_guidance.asp).
[1] The University is committed to the social model of disability and in line with the definition under the Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone with a physical or mental impairment which is long-term (lasting 12 months or more) and which has a substantial impact of that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The definition of disability includes long-term medical conditions such as cancer (from the point of diagnosis), epilepsy, diabetes, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME and HIV/AIDS amongst others.
