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Inspiring, nurturing and empowering young people with a vision impairment.

Amy’s University Lowdown!

Written by Sixth Form student Amy.

Every student who wants to go to university has to go through the same process when considering where they want to go and what course they want to study. When you have a disability, this process can be made even more complicated – you have to consider various different aspects to get the best out of the opportunities available.

Recently I have been visiting different universities in order to help me decide where I want to study after I have finished sixth form. I’m looking to study Journalism. This meant not only looking at courses but also considering things like the campus layout, course accessibility, disability services and many different aspects which would make the university experience more enjoyable.

Last week, I went to visit the university of Gloucestershire where I met the disability advisor, course leader and technician and accommodation officer. I was also taken on a tour where I was shown key places such as the library, student accommodation and where my course would be taught. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, I particularly enjoyed talking to both the course leader and disability advisor as well as some of the current students who were involved with the student union. The campus was also very centralised which made accessing different areas more straightforward.

The last couple of years have made the university selection process even more complicated because of COVID, meaning that a majority of the events normally held have been conducted online. I have been doing my fair share of virtual open days!
The experience of a virtual open day is vastly different to experiencing a physical open day – focusing more on imagery, video and recorded talks from lecturers. So the opportunity to visit a university in person has really been beneficial to me! For a student with any disability, accessibility would be one of the highest priorities when looking at universities, and I feel that this can only really be done face to face.

I am looking forward to attending more universities so that I can see how different they are laid out as well as their adaptability. After I have finished looking at different universities I can begin comparing to see which would be best suited for me and the course I want to do!

Student Amy
Birds-eye view of University of Gloucestershire
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