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Student Disability Office

Student Disability and Dyslexia Advice

The Student Disability Advisors are Zoë Davis and Angela Axon.

The Learning Advisors are Carol John and Carol Rifkin.

What we do

The Student Disability Advisors can advise on the facilities that are available to you as a disabled student at SOAS as well as helping you to ensure that any reasonable adjustments are made to make SOAS more accessible to you. This can include:

  • Exam arrangements
  • Advice on disability related funding for study (DSA)
  • Mentoring & mental health advisor
  • Recommendations to academic and teaching staff
  • Library Services

The Learning Advisors offer learning and study support for students and staff relating to specific learning differences (SpLD’s).  SpLD’s  include dyslexia, dyspraxia, AD(H)D and dyscalculia.  We also provide learning and study support regarding other issues that can impact on learning, such as depression, anxiety and procrastination. 

We use the feedback we get from students about what works and what doesn’t and use that to inform the more strategic parts of our role, eg the creation of policy and working with other staff members to make SOAS as accessible as possible. 

Which students do we work with?

We work with students who are disabled.  The term “disability” is wide. According to the Disability Discrimination Act disability can include:

  • problems with mobility, seeing or hearing;
  • specific learning differences (e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia); 
  • mental illness or mental health difficulties; 
  • severe disfigurements; 
  • cancer, HIV/Aids, epilepsy, diabetes; 
  • progressive conditions even at an early stage, conditions characterised by a number of cumulative effects such as pain or fatigue and a past history of disability. 

If you aren’t sure if you are covered by this definition but are experiencing difficulties, please contact us for advice.

How to make an appointment

You can make an appointment using the online booking form (right), or by ringing our Administrator on 020 7074 5015 or e-mail studentservices@soas.ac.uk

Drop ins

You can see Angela and Zoë without an appointment on Tuesdays and Fridays between 1.30 and 2:30pm.

You can see Carol John without an appointment on Mondays and Wednesdays 12-1pm.

Where we are

Our visiting address is:  Room V302 on the 3rd Floor of the Vernon Square Campus, Vernon Square, Penton Rise, London WC1X 9EL.

Postal address: SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Maps are available at the front desk of the main building at Russell Square. You can download a map here

How to contact us

Student Disability Advisers
Learning Advisers