How We Support You

We pride ourselves on always offering the highest standard of support to you – both in and out of the classroom. It’s important to us that you are able to access help and guidance when and where you need it because we realise this plays a large part in the success that you can go onto achieve at our University Centre.

You deserve to be happy, healthy and thriving during your time in Higher Education. To ensure this, here are some of the support services that you’ll be able to access when you’re a student.

Pastoral Welfare

Our Pastoral Welfare Officers are here to help and support you with pastoral, welfare, mental health, learning difficulties and disabilities, and safeguarding.

We believe in creating an environment where you can reach your full potential and fully participate in college life.

Counselling

We offer a counselling service that is fully confidential and available to all students throughout the academic year.

Our counsellors offer the highest possible level of confidentiality consistent with the codes of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and there are drop-in sessions available from Monday-Friday

Contact counselling@hopwood.ac.uk

Careers and Employability

You’re right to be thinking about the bright future ahead of you. If you want information on writing your CV, applying for new roles or even applying for further study, we’ll support you the entire way.

Our Careers and Employability team have won awards for their quality of support and you’re welcome to talk to them at any time about your goals for the future. You can email them at careers@hopwood.ac.uk

Mental Health

Your mental health is important to us and we understand that from time to time you may need someone to talk to about your course, home life, anxiety, stress or your general health.

In this event, we have a team of Mental Health First Aiders who make sure you are fully supported during your time at our University Centre.

Additional Learning Support

Our Learning Support Team will always be on hand to make sure you’re excelling in your studies. If you have a disability, medical condition, sensory impairment, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty (e.g. a dyslexia) we’ll work with you to help ensure that there are no barriers to your learning.

We’ll be able to assist you in applying for support in the form of the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), which is a government-funded scheme to help with the costs associated with needing additional learning support. Full information is available at www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas  but in summary: 

If you are a student with a disability, DSAs exist to help with any extra essential costs you may have as a result of your disability. This may cover: 

• Specialist equipment – for example if you need a computer to run specialist software or braille display
• Non-medical helper – for example, if you need a BSL interpreter to attend lectures 
• Travel – for example, if you need to use a taxi to attend classes rather than using public transport 
• A range of general costs may also be considered, related to your disability. 

The application process: DSAs do not depend on household income and do not need to be repaid. You can apply online if you are a full-time student in England and are applying for other support from Student Finance England at www.gov.uk/studentfinance 

If you are not applying for any other finance then you can download an application form at www.gov.uk/student-finance-forms  

Student Voice

When it comes to Student Voice, Hopwood Hall is a place where you don’t have to be noisy for your voice to be heard. We encourage you to find your voice and have your say.

We give you a voice through:

• Tutorials
• Senior Leadership Question Time
• National Student Surveys
• The Student Voice Conference
• Student representation on key college forums e.g. Equality & Diversity Group
• Representation on local and national Student Voice panels
• Being elected as a Student Governor
• Student and Staff Liaison Committee
• Attendance at the Higher Education Committee

Free gym

Our free gym relieves the pressure the financial pressure of having to pay for membership elsewhere. Located at our Middleton Campus, it’s fully-equipped with all the latest equipment so that you can achieve your fitness goals and keep physically fit and healthy during your time as a student.