We are the largest Welsh based supplier of NMH support. We are occasionally asked if we operate only in Wales and are pleased to confirm that we also provide support in England.
If you have received your DSA2 letter naming Beacon as your support provider we will be delighted to put this in place.
Contact us to arrange your support by:
Phone/ text: 07831 516468 or 07769 631892
Email: admin@beaconsupport.co.uk
It would be helpful if you would also forward us a copy of your DSA2 and Needs Assessment Report. We typically respond to you within 24 hours of you first contacting us.
You may be unsure of what to expect from your support. Please feel welcome to contact us to ask any questions or to tell us any of your preferences. Below is a brief description of each of the main types of support that is provided:
Specialist Study skills
Over the years we have listened to our students’ feedback and have tailored our support so that it is highly flexible and sensitive to your needs. Your tutor will do their best to meet at a suitable location, on a day and time that suits you. Our tutors have a bank of resources they can draw from which are applicable to higher education study. Your tutor will help you to learn multiple skills including:
Specialist Mentor
Your specialist mentor will have a strong background in mental health and/or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Our mentors have a bank of resources they can draw from which are suitable for students in higher education. Your mentor will not take on the role of a counsellor, however, they will be able to provide you with suitable coping strategies to address any difficulties you may experience in engaging with university life. Typical strategies include: Time management Organisation Motivation Communication All of our mentors are offered regular training on assistive technology, including Brain-in-Hand so they can help you to use those programmes that are complementary to your needs.
Technology Trainer
Your assistive technology trainer will meet with you at your preferred location on a day and time that suits you best. They will discuss your course demands with you before you meet so they can plan which assistive training to deliver to you first. Our trainers often have a background in mentoring and/or study skills. This means that they have an excellent understanding of your course demands and can ensure that the training they provide is relevant to your studies.
We are always pleased to answer student queries. Below are some of the questions we’ve received and our responses.
You asked, we replied:
What are Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs)?
How do I apply for DSAs?
Visit the government website for guidance on how to apply for DSAs, or make an appointment with your university’s disability adviser. You can also contact the Beacon admin team for advice: admin@beaconsupport.co.uk.
I have been awarded DSAs, how do I book my study needs assessment?
Your funding body will send you a letter called a DSA1 to inform you if you are able to receive Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs). Within this letter will be a recommendation for you to find an Assessment Centre near you and book an appointment. You can search for your nearest centre by going to www.dsa-qag.org.uk and entering your postcode. You should not have to wait more than two weeks for an appointment. There is no fee for your study needs assessment as your funding body will pay this.
What happens in my study needs assessment?
During your needs assessment you’ll discuss with a Needs Assessor what type of support is available. Your Needs Assessor will demonstrate equipment and assistive software during your appointment. They will then send a report to your funding body (a copy is also sent to you and your disability adviser) which details what specialist equipment and/or support they recommend. You will be informed once this support has been approved by your funding body who will send you a DSA2 letter.
I have received my DSA2 and it states that Beacon is providing me with support. How do I arrange this?
You can contact us either through:
- Email (admin@beaconsupport.co.uk)
- Phone (07837518315)
- Contacting us through our contact page on our website
It will be helpful for you to email us a copy of your DSA2 letter and your needs assessment report. If there is a password to open your document/s please inform us of this in a separate email.
Why have I been put with Beacon Support instead of my university?
You may have requested to be put with us, or your needs assessor may have decided your needs will be better met by an external provider. Most of our support staff have previously worked in student services at different universities. This means that they will be knowledgeable of your university’s practices and the demands of any higher education course. As an external supplier we are highly sensitive to our students’ needs and ensure our support is flexible. We provide our team with regular training and quality assure the support they give you. Please look at our student feedback to find out more about the quality of our support.
Am I allowed to choose my own supplier?
Your needs assessor will carefully consider your needs before placing you with a supplier. Nonetheless, you are always welcome to email your funding body to request a change of supplier should you feel that your needs are not being met. It is always helpful if you try to resolve any issues with your supplier in the first instance.
What support will I have from my note-taker?
Your notetaker will attend your lectures and take notes which will be emailed to you by the end of the day. This confidential service does not intend to discourage you from making your own notes; however, it does enable you to make mindmaps or bullet points during lectures whilst your notetaker captures the content in greater detail. This allows you to focus on what is being taught without panicking that you will not be able to remember recall all the information at a later date.
I plan to return to study after I graduate. I would like to stay with Beacon. How do I arrange this?
Your funding body should automatically place you back with us unless you contact them to request a different provider. If you are transferring to a different university please check with us to make sure we are registered to provide support there.
I would like to have the same support staff next year.
You will retain the same support staff unless you contact us to request otherwise.
There is so much to arrange, I don’t know how to organise all my support.
Once you have contacted us, we will help you to put your other support in place, such as your assistive technology training.
I would like to change my support staff.
We appreciate that sometimes, for different reasons, you may wish to change your support staff for a different member of the team. We will always facilitate a change of staff promptly. All you need to do is to email us – you do not need to provide a reason why you wish to change staff, although if you are able to share the reason for your request this can help us to ensure we match you with an appropriate member of the team.
How can I provide feedback about my support?
We email you a feedback form each academic year. This helps us to continually improve our service. You can provide feedback at any point during your studies by contacting the admin team or anonymously through our Contact page.
What happens if my support worker is ill?
We have a large team and are able to provide you with temporary cover on the rare occasions that this may be necessary.
I may sometimes need help with Maths or statistics. Can you provide this?
Whilst your study skills tutor is not supposed to be ‘subject specific’ we realise that there are times when aspects of your course require specialist understanding. We have many such specialists on our team, including psychology, maths, chiro, languages and accountancy. We will do our best for you to receive support from such specialists, where this has been approved by your needs assessor.
I’m concerned that I won’t get support when I go home for the holidays.
Your support worker can continue to support you during the holidays. This can be done remotely, such as using Skype, if you do not live locally.
Will I have help proofreading my work?
Your study skills tutor will go through each assignment with you helping you to understand where and why you may have made errors and how to correct these.
Do I have to have weekly support if I don’t feel I need this?
From our experience, you will best manage your deadlines by engaging with regular weekly support. However, during your first support session, you will discuss with your support staff how and when you would like to meet. Some students will arrange a regular day and time, others will arrange their support on a more flexible basis.
I may need more than one hour’s support a week at some points during the year. Is this possible?
As long as you have enough hours allocated to you by your funding body we will do our best to provide you with more than one session in a week as and when you require this.
I want to switch to Beacon for my support – how do I do this?
We encourage you to try to address any concerns you have with your current support with your supplier. If you cannot find a resolution then you should discuss this with your needs assessor who can advise you on changing support providers.
We are delighted that a hundred percent of our students who responded to our recent survey were satisfied or very satisfied with their support.
Receiving student feedback helps us to continually monitor and improve our support. We encourage our students to provide us with feedback throughout the year using our student survey. Feedback can also be left anonymously through our contact page.
