Disability Practitioner

Salary: £36,636 to £38,784 with progression to £46,049 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 25 September 2026

The Role

University Health and Wellbeing is seeking to appoint an exceptional candidate to the post of Disability Practitioner, in a fixed-term post to cover a period of maternity leave.

This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic individual to join the Disability team. This role provides specialist professional advice and guidance to students, applicants and colleagues and to work creatively to remove barriers for disabled students, to raise awareness and promote a positive, respectful and inclusive culture to enable access, progress and retention for disabled students.

University Health and Wellbeing provide information, advice and guidance on a wide range of support issues, to enable students to maximise their potential whilst at University. The service is free, confidential and available to all students.

The role is campus-based. There is opportunity for flexible hybrid working dependent on service need. The fixed working hours are Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.

We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We are a Disability Confident employer which means that we offer an interview to any applicant applying under the scheme that meets the essential criteria for a role.

Interviews to be held in October 2026.

If, having read the job description and person specification, you require information that is not covered, please contact Sandy Alden by email sandy.alden@ncl.ac.uk. You can also find further information about the Student Wellbeing Service online.

To apply, please complete the 3 mandatory questions attached to this vacancy along with a copy of your CV and cover letter evidencing how your skills and experience align to the person specification as outlined in job description.

Successful candidates will require satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). People Services colleagues will support you with this during onboarding.

Key Accountabilities

• To act as a central point of contact for future and current disabled students, including long-term mental health conditions.
• To provide advice and information to students and key stakeholders, on the provision of support services and facilities within and external to the University.
• Manage a varied, complex and sensitive caseload of future and current disabled students, including those with long-term mental health conditions, who want to access disability support, often working with them over a long period of time.
• Identify and respond to risk, and to refer appropriately to internal and/or external services.
• Apply knowledge and understanding of the additional mental health vulnerabilities of those from minority or marginalised backgrounds and the experience and action needed to support them effectively.
• With equal efficacy offer a blend of individual present-in-person and digital meetings to identify relevant support and adjustments options, facilitate any ensuing communication with academic schools and other key stakeholders to resolve barriers to reasonable adjustment and support needs.
• Provide advice, guidance and information, including advice on Disabled Students Allowances.
• Undertake assessments of student needs and deliver one to one or small group interventions to help students develop effective strategies that support healthy behaviours, and positive engagement with study.
• Proactively liaise with colleagues within the Examinations Office to implement additional examination arrangements for disabled students.
• When directed plan, coordinate and participate in staff development activities.
• To facilitate improvements in provision for disabled students, by holding a knowledge lead responsibility, in a wide range of settings by keeping abreast of issues affecting disabled students and participation within a variety of working groups.
• To complete and maintain record keeping in a timely fashion, adhering to the Service policy and data protection requirements.
• Contribute to the evaluation of the impact of support provided to students.
• As identified by and with support of line manager undertake regular personal training and continuing professional development in order to remain updated with the knowledge of legislation and relevant research in disability related issues.
• To keep abreast of internal and external developments that may impact upon support for disabled students. This includes, but is not exclusive to, government strategy, and sector best practice initiatives.
• Adhere to and comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Laws along with the University’s Data Protection Policies.
• To act as a consultant, and at times trainer, to university staff to provide support as they work with disabled students and students with long-term mental health conditions and vulnerabilities.
• To liaise with both external bodies and internal colleagues to assist in providing adequate support for disabled students, including long-term mental health conditions and vulnerabilities. Refer and track referrals to other agencies as appropriate, to ensure students do not “slip through the net”.
• To participate in promotion of the Student Health and Wellbeing activity, open days, receptions, Welcome Week which, from time to time, may require working out-of-hours i.e. evenings and weekends (only very occasional).