Student Support Advisers

Support from a Student Support Adviser

Find out how the Student Support Advisers can help you, including the process for getting support. They will not make decisions for you or make judgements about your conduct or circumstances.

Student Support Advisers are UWE Bristol staff who work within the University's regulations, policies and procedures. Advisers cannot act as advocates for you in a dispute with the University or in student conduct hearings. If you need independent support and advice, you should contact The Students' Union at UWE Bristol's Advice Centre.

To help you prepare for your appointment, you may like to have a look at the following information before booking:

Student and staff member having a conversation in front of a laptop.

What you need to do

  1. Step 1

    An appointment with a Student Support Adviser can be made by booking online. Just log in to the Appointment section in InfoHub, select the topic you would like to talk about and choose an available appointment.

    If you cannot see the topic you would like to talk about please select the closest option and book the appointment as the Student Support Adviser will still be able to help you.

    Alternatively, you can book an appointment by calling an Information Point on +44 (0)117 32 85678.

    An appointment can be booked for the same day, subject to availability. Appointments slots are made available by 9:00, Monday to Friday. We recommend that you book early on the day as demand for appointments means that they can be booked quickly. Appointments can be booked up to 30 minutes before the meeting slot.

    We are offering face to face appointments on campus. If you can, please wear a face covering during a face to face appointment to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 on campus.

    An appointment through Microsoft Teams (including video) or a telephone appointment with an Adviser can be arranged where the Adviser will contact you at the agreed date and time. If you choose a telephone appointment you may want to make sure you’re in a quiet space with good signal (please remember that sometimes the call will come from an unrecognised number). If you choose to have an appointment through Microsoft Teams, please ensure that you are logged into your UWE Bristol account ahead of the appointment to enable the call through Microsoft Teams.

    When the appointment is booked, you will receive an email confirmation of the time and the name of the Adviser you will be speaking to. This email also contains a link which allows you to cancel the appointment if you are no longer available at the arranged time.

  2. Step 2

    If you can't attend an appointment you can either cancel it via InfoHub or by contacting one of the Information Points. You are welcome to arrange another appointment. However, missing three consecutive appointments without any prior notification could result in you not being permitted to book another one during the same month.

  3. Step 3

    The Student Support Adviser will take some notes as a record of the meeting in accordance with our Data Protection Policy.

    The Student Support Adviser will listen to your query and provide appropriate information and advice. They may suggest a course of action which could involve signposting or referring you to another service within the University (or an external organisation). They will also help you to explore any challenges you may be facing and how you may want to address them.

  4. Step 4

    Following your appointment an email with a link to InfoHub will be sent to your UWE Bristol account so you can access your appointment notes summarising the advice and action points of the meeting.

    The meeting journal will also request that you provide anonymous feedback about your experience at the appointment for the purposes of monitoring and improving the service.

Support provided by a Student Support Adviser

How a Student Support Adviser can help

The role of a Student Support Adviser is to provide you with information and advice on a wide range of university matters including:

  • course-related issues, options and module choices
  • academic regulations, procedures and rules
  • transferring to other programmes within the University
  • what to do if unforeseen personal or medical issues affect your studies or assessments
  • Taking a time out or withdrawing from the University.
  • paternity, partner and adoption leave
  • pregnancy support – if you are pregnant, we can work with you and your academic department to agree a plan to support your studies
  • trans/non-binary gender support – for more information, please see our Equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) policies and guidance.

Additionally, as part of their role, Student Support Advisers may contact you to offer support if your engagement profile is very low in the MyEngagement system. More information can be found via MyAttendance and MyEngagement.

Pregnancy support

The Student Support Adviser will co-ordinate the arrangements to ensure that students’ educational support needs are met during pregnancy, during any period of leave and on the student’s return to study. The Student Support Adviser will liaise with the academic department, the student, the Graduate School and other Professional Services as necessary, in order to ensure that the necessary reasonable adjustments are made. The agreed arrangements will be documented in a Student Pregnancy Support Plan, which will normally cover the following key points:

  • arrangement for ante-natal appointments
  • examinations and assessments
  • health and safety
  • placements/field work/study abroad
  • visa implications
  • student finances
  • absence (suspension of studies, pregnancy, maternity, adoption or partner leave).

For further information, please see the Student Pregnancy, Maternity and Adoption and Partner Policy (PDF). Student Support Advisers can also help to co-ordinate support for your studies by signposting or referring you to other specialist services where appropriate.


Trans and non-binary student support

Within the Student Advice team, there are designated Student Support Advisers who offer confidential advice and guidance to our trans and non-binary students. It is important that we have the right information about you on our system and we are aware of any changes to your identity and personal information.

At the University, we have information saved in various systems and we want to ensure that we help you to update your information across the University. We have expertise within the team to offer support to our trans and non-binary students who can book appointments with our Student Support Advisers to discuss any of the following:

  • Documents to provide for name/gender change
  • Process of name/gender change
  • Support available during transition
  • International student name/gender change and visa changes
  • Changes on student information management system
  • Data protection and confidentiality policy
  • Any more questions you may have

For more information on how we can support you, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions available in the University’s guidance referring to trans and non-binary students (PDF).

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