Futureworks
Find out what support is available at your university or college. The information on this page was compiled by the institution themselves to ensure accuracy.
1. Student Support
At Futureworks, we understand that you may encounter difficulties within your personal life whilst you are studying with us. Whilst university can be an exciting and fun time, it can also bring its challenges.
Transitioning through University can be a big change and we know that students may need a little bit of support, advice, guidance and information to help you with problems or issues that you may encounter.
We provide 1-1 pastoral advice and guidance to students who may be experiencing anything affecting their time at university, for example: mental health, financial support, disability support, feeling homesick or just an ear to listen to if you need a confidential space to talk about your worries or concerns.
Student Services can offer advice with regards to health, bullying, discrimination and harassment, we can also direct you to the best place to go for additional support and can talk through your options with you whatever you are facing.
Please email support@futureworks.ac.uk or visit the Student Advice Centre on Floor 3.
2. Mental Health Support
Futureworks offers a free in-house counselling service for all students. Most people go through difficult and challenging times at some point and life is not always easy or straight forward. Counselling can be a very effective in helping sort through life’s challenging moments.
Futureworks provides talking therapy. You may hear various terms used to describe talking therapy including, counselling, therapy, talking therapy or psychological therapy. These are all used to describe generally the same style of treatment.
Talking therapy or counselling, provides a regular time and space for you to talk about your thoughts and experiences and explore difficult feelings with a trained professional. This could help you to:
- deal with a specific problem
- cope with upsetting memories or experiences
- improve your relationships
- develop more helpful ways of living day-to-day
Counselling sessions take place in Futureworks building at Riverside, and no external referrals are made. There can be a slight waiting list, but the wait is nothing like the NHS. Therefore, if you are currently on any waiting lists or are thinking about counselling, please come and speak to us and we can offer some guidance.
3. Financial Support
Futureworks is proud to offer a range of financial support funds for our undergraduate students. We aim to actively support access to our courses from groups of applicants who are underrepresented in Higher Education that face financial challenges and hardship.
What are support funds/bursaries?
A bursary is a monetary award made by an educational institution to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend university where funding may otherwise be a barrier.
It’s not a loan – you don’t have to repay it – and it doesn’t affect your Student Finance entitlement.
Futureworks operates four funds designed to support new and current students; the money paid out from these funds is in the form of bursaries.
How does it work?
- Decide which fund(s) you wish to apply for.
- Complete the relevant application form, which can be found on the corresponding page for each fund.
Applications are reviewed by our Access & Participation Steering Group panel.
Successful applicants will be paid directly via bank transfer. Further details about funding amounts, payment schedules and application deadlines can be found on the pages for each fund. Students may apply for more than one fund.
Please note: all awards are discretionary, and the success of any application is not guaranteed, however we would encourage all students who believe they are eligible to apply.
4. Disability Support
We are passionate about making sure education is accessible for everyone. Futureworks is committed to the pursuit of academic excellence, to be a proactive and responsive support service, which encourages student development and empowers students to achieve their highest potential. We aim to foster a culture, which supports and encourages all under-represented groups, promotes inclusion, and values diversity.
What do we mean by the term disability?
We use the term ‘disability’ if a person has a physical or mental impairment, which has significant, adverse and long-term effects on a persons’ ability to carry out normal day-day activities (Equality Act 2010).
For example:
- Social Communication Disorder e.g., autistic spectrum disorders or aspersers syndrome
- Specific Learning Difficulties e.g., dyslexia, dyspraxia & ADHD
- Mental Health Conditions e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar,
- Mobility Impairments e.g., wheelchair user or difficulties using your arms or legs
- Visual impairment e.g., blind or visually impaired
- Hearing Impairments e.g., deaf or hearing difficulties
- Medical / health conditions e.g., epilepsy, chronic fatigue, HIV and aids.
Tell us about yourself and your disability
If you have a disability listed above, we encourage you to disclose this to us at your earliest opportunity. Once we are aware of your specific needs, we can work together with you to ensure that any reasonable adjustments that are required can be put in place. Arranging appropriate individual disability support depends first on you telling us about your circumstances and needs. Evidence of your disability is required before reasonable adjustments can be made.
Contact our Welfare Officer directly to discuss your disability
5. Additional Support
If you are having financial trouble, we would always encourage you to come and speak to Student Services. We know that anybody can find themselves at crisis point for various reasons.
We have a range of support options available, depending on your circumstances. Please see our website for further information.