University Medical Centre

The Medical Centre is a specialist GP practice on the Canterbury campus, providing medical care tailored to meet all the health needs of students at the University – see the Medical Centre website for full details. All services are completely confidential. The University Nursing Service (in Keynes College) provides nursing care for in-patients, a minor casualty service, and support and advice to students seven days a week during term time. There is also a pharmacy next door to the Medical Centre.

We strongly advise you to register with a doctor's surgery close to your term-time accommodation. By registering under the NHS system, you qualify for treatment here and in many reciprocating countries abroad. You should also register with a local NHS dentist.

Disability and Dyslexia Support Service

Our core services include:

• support for students with specific learning difficulties including dyslexia and dyspraxia
• support for students with physical or sensory impairments and medical conditions
• support for students with mental health difficulties
• support for students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• help with applications for the Disabled Students' Allowance.

We have a team of tutors and mentors who can provide individual specialist support and Educational Support Assistants who can help with note-taking and other learning support requirements.

We recommend that if you have a specific learning difficulty, disability or mental health condition, you apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance as soon as you make your UCAS choices. You can get further information from the following website: www.direct.gov.uk/dsa

We encourage all applicants who have additional support needs to contact us before starting at the University, to discuss their requirements.

Oaks Day Nursery

The Oaks Day Nursery on the Canterbury campus has been established for over 30 years. The Nursery has been run by Kent Union since November 2007 and provides a warm, caring and stimulating environment where children can develop and grow to their full potential. Children are cared for in four rooms that cater for different ages and abilities; there is also a large outdoor play area.

The Oaks Day Nursery is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all children and families. Discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, age, religion, colour, marital status, ethnicity or political belief is not tolerated in this setting.

Admissions

We are registered for 65 children a day, aged from three months to four plus. Our client base is made up of University staff, students and families from the wider community. For information about our pricing structure, please telephone or email Chris or Lisa.

The Chaplaincy

The Chaplaincy team is both ecumenical and multi-faith. We have two full-time chaplains (Anglican and Catholic) and several part-time members who serve all the main Christian denominations as well as the Buddhist, Islamic and Jewish faith communities at Kent.

We lead worship on the Canterbury campus on Sundays and run a number of weekday services, and students have plenty of opportunities to learn more about their own faith/traditions.

There is an attractive small chapel in Eliot College on the Canterbury campus that is regularly used for worship and is open to everybody for quiet prayer and meditation. There is also a mosque in Giles Lane on the edge of the campus.

Counselling Service

Going away to university is an important time of transition and personal development. There may be a period when you begin to feel that you would benefit from some professional counselling. The goal of counselling is to empower, encourage and support you to help yourself. Evidence tells us that the vast majority of students who have been for counselling find it a valuable experience.

The University Counselling Service, based on the Canterbury campus, is open all year round for all students. We offer a confidential service and invite you to book an initial half-hour assessment which gives you the opportunity to explore what you most want to achieve from counselling before you decide to take it further. In addition to individual counselling sessions, we run workshops and courses on: counselling skills; mindfulness; assertiveness training; mental wealth and wellbeing; relaxation; graduation and beyond; boosting confidence and other topics according to demand. Some of these may be run in conjunction with indoor labyrinth walks held in the Senate Chamber once a month. You can also visit our website for useful links and information on a wide range of topics related to good health and well-being.

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Equality and diversity

The University is committed to creating and supporting a balanced, inclusive and diverse community that is open and accessible to all students. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or bullying of any groups or individuals, and we provide comprehensive student guidelines that outline ways of ensuring fair and consistent behaviour.

Security

Kent is one of the safest places in which to study, but we do recognise that some students may feel vulnerable, particularly at night. Our trained, inhouse security officers are on duty 24 hours per day and regularly patrol the campus on foot, on bicycles and in marked vehicles, and CCTV cameras are also monitored in Campus Watch. We offer a service to accompany anyone who feels vulnerable across campus and we also offer free personal attack alarms. Some accommodation areas have their own night security officer; where this is the case, the security officers are also the building fire officers.