At Kent we want to make sure your son or daughter has the best possible learning experience while they work for their degree. The Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS) is a free and friendly resource for students from all campuses, subjects and levels of study. It provides information, one-to-one sessions and workshops to improve study skills. The workshops cover a variety of areas including grammar and writing style, essay writing, effective research techniques, identifying and using online sources, referencing and plagiarism.

Kent Union and the Universities at Medway Students' Association (UMSA) Advice Centres are here to help all University of Kent students, including part-time as well as full-time students and those students studying franchised courses at other colleges.

They provide advice on issues that may affect your son or daughter while they are a student. This includes the all-important finance questions, legal advice, questions about their course, health matters and other issues.

Kent Union was awarded the Quality Mark which sets the standard for legal information and advice and is overseen by the Community Legal Service. It is designed to ensure that the service is well run and that the quality of their advice is monitored to maintain high standards.

Kent has a dedicated Disability and Dyslexia Support Service. Its core services include support for students with specific learning difficulties, support for students with physical or sensory impairments and medical conditions, and help with applications for the Disabled Students' Allowance. We also have a team of tutors who provide individual specialist tuition and support assistants who can help with note-taking and other learning support requirements.

If you son or daughter requires this type of support, they should contact the University as soon as possible so we are able to arrange timely provision of the appropriate support services.

If your son or daughter is studying on the Canterbury campus, they should contact the University Medical Centre - a GP practice offering a same-day appointment service. There is also an on-site pharmacy next door. The University Nursing Service is available to students for support, advice, treatment of minor illness and injury and contraceptive advice (including supply of emergency contraception). The service provides a drop-in facility, where no appointment is necessary to discuss health problems with the nurse and receive treatment where appropriate.

If your son or daughter is studying at Medway, they should register themselves with a local GP. Please refer to the Useful Contacts page for further information.

Going to university is a time of transition and personal development, and there may be times when your son or daughter may feel they would benefit from some professional counselling. The goal of counselling is to empower, encourage and support your son or daughter to help themselves.

The University Counselling Service, offers students and staff a completely confidential service, and is open throughout the year. In addition to individual counselling sessions, there is the opportunity to take part in groups, workshops and courses.

We have a Chaplaincy team at Kent which 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, Hindu, Sikh and Jewish faith communities.

There is an attractive small chapel in Eliot College on the Canterbury campus which is regularly used for worship and is open to everybody for quiet prayer and meditation. Muslim students at the Medway campus are able to meet for prayer in the Rochester building and there is a chaplain who can arrange introductions to local places of worship and offer spiritual advice to all students.

The Oaks Day Nursery on the Canterbury campus provides a warm, caring, happy and stimulating environment in which children can develop. We have 20 qualified members of staff providing the highest standard of care for children between three months and five years old.

Busy Bees is a purpose built nursery that provides childcare for students at the Medway campus. A recent OFSTED inspection rated it as ‘outstanding’.

The Students’ Union offers a subsidy on any childcare costs for appropriately qualified students and the nurseries also accept The Early Learning Grant provided for children from government money that is given to children the term before their fourth birthday.

Canterbury is one of the top three safest places in which to study*. However, we do recognise that some people may feel vulnerable, particularly at night and we have a variety of preventative methods to keep our students safe. We have a team of specially trained security officers who patrol the campus 24 hours a day, CCTV cameras, a staffed reception area in each college and our security centre, Campus Watch. We also offer an on-campus security service which means your son or daughter can be accompanied, on foot, by a security guard at any time. We also organise a term-time, late night bus service to local towns.

Access to the Medway campus is monitored by the gatehouse staff and members of security patrol the site 24 hours a day. There is a Police Community Support Officer based in the Pilkington Building who regularly patrols the campus and all areas are covered by CCTV. The new accommodation at Liberty Quays features comprehensive CCTV coverage, 24-hour security and electronic entry systems.

We recognise that our students come from a variety of backgrounds and, during the course of study, family circumstances may change. We take the welfare of our students extremely seriously and would ask you, in your role as parents and carers, to encourage your son or daughter to report any special circumstances to their academic schools so any factors that may affect their ability to study are taken into account in the earliest possible instance.

The University of Kent is aware of the need to maintain student confidentiality. With this in mind, we would only able to discuss your son or daughter’s progress with you if they have granted us permission to do so.