Applicants with a disability or health condition

We welcome an application from you if you have a disability or long-term health condition. We believe that you can make a valuable contribution to patient care, and we're committed to supporting and advising you in the application process.

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Introduction

Welcomed and valued

We welcome an application from you if you have a disability or long-term health condition and you will be valued for your contribution to patient care.

Doctors, like any other professional group, can experience ill health or disability. This may occur at any point in their studies or professional career, or long before they become interested in medicine.

A diverse population is also better served by a diverse workforce that has had similar experiences and understands their needs.

Having a health condition or disability alone is not a fitness to practise concern. We look at the impact a health condition is having on the person’s ability to practise medicine safely, which will be unique for each individual.

Students examining a digital patient case study with a clinician

Medicine student and a GP with a patient at Brough GP Surgery

Students in a problem based learning session

When do I tell you about my disability?

Application

You have the option to declare your disability on your UCAS form. This information is screened from our assessors and will not be taken into account when considering your application.

Invitation to interview

Should we invite you to interview with us, we will ask you if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make that will enable you to access the interview process on an equal footing.

We may ask you to provide evidence of eligibility for extra time, etc., but we will not ask for details of your condition, and this will not impact our assessment of your interview performance.

Post-offer

If you firmly accept an offer to study with us, and have declared a disability on your UCAS form, your allocated University campus will contact you to provide additional details of how to access the student support services available to you whilst you study with us.

All candidates who firmly accept an offer from us will be sent an Occupational Health assessment form which includes health screening and immunisation, in the June of the year they are due to start studying with us. This must be completed and returned before taking up your place with us.

Our Occupational Health teams at the University of Hull and the University of York will consider:

Possible effects on your health of a demanding and intensive medical course
Whether, and in what ways, your clinical contact with patients should be modified
Whether you will need any reasonable adjustments so that you can complete the Medicine programme satisfactorily

Very rarely, the decision may be taken that a disability or condition makes an applicant unsuitable to study medicine, on the grounds of patient safety or inability to meet the General Medical Council Outcomes for Graduates guidance and fitness to practice requirements. This decision will only be taken after full discussion and consideration by our Fitness to Practise committee.

What support is available for students with dyslexia?

If you have special needs due to dyslexia and you are offered a place, you should send a current educational psychologist's report (or the equivalent) with your occupational health questionnaire before the start of the course. This report should be dated within the last three years, if it was written before your 16th birthday, or within the last five years, if it was written when you were 16 or older.

Extra time may be approved in written exams, but it's unlikely to be allowed in clinical examinations.

What funding is available to students with a disability?

The government's Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA) provides funding for equipment, books and any other support you may need.