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Murray Edwards College
University of Cambridge

Students with disabilities

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    Much of Murray Edwards, including the Library and the Dome, is accessible to people who use wheelchairs. The College also has undergraduate and graduate accommodation for students who use a wheelchair. Students are encouraged to discuss any other specific requirements with their Tutor, or with the Admissions Office if students hold an offer and are not yet members of the College. 

    The University’s Disability Resource Centre (DRC) provides support and advice to all students. Their advisors can discuss issues relating to any disability, including Specific Learning Difficulties, and can offer advice on needs assessment, academic support and funding. 

    Within the College, Beverley Watts, the Tutorial Office Manager, is the College’s Disability Liaison Officer. 

    Specific Learning Difficulties

    Incoming students who have a declared diagnosis of a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD), will be contacted by the DRC to discuss the development of a Cambridge-specific Student Support Document. 

    If you had extra time in exams or other adjustments, you will need to apply for exam arrangements. Each year, the Tutorial Office will email all students to ask whether they need exam arrangements - please ensure that you reply to the email every year, as exam arrangements are not carried over from year to year. To be approved for exam arrangements, the College will need evidence to support the application. The University has strict guidelines for what constitutes a valid report. To be valid, in your first year of requesting exam arrangemetns, your SpLD report must be:

    • written by an Educational Psychologist or Specialist Teacher, who has the Patoss SpLD Assessment Practising Certificate (or equivalent);
    • no more than three years old upon your entry to the University;
    • written after you were 16 years of age;
    • written in accordance with the SpLD Working Group 2005/DfES Guidelines.

    If your report does not meet these criteria, you will need a new report. Please see below about how to get a new report and help with payment.

    If you are unsure if your report meets the criteria, email it to the DRC at SpLD@admin.cam.ac.uk and it will be assessed for you.

    Sometimes a student may not have a diagnosis when they arrive in Cambridge. If a Director of Studies or supervisor suggests that a student needs further investigation for a Specific Learning Difficulty, the student should ask their Tutor for how to contact an assessor. The College will pay 50 per cent of the cost of the assessment (please complete the appropriate form). If payment of the remainder causes financial hardship, then the student can make an appointment to see the College's Finance Tutor to discuss the possibility for applying for help through the Hardship Fund.