Do I have to disclose my disability to university?

The short answer

No, you're never legally required to disclose a disability to your UK university, but it only has to make reasonable adjustments once it knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that you're disabled. Nothing in the Equality Act 2010 forces you to tell anyone. The legal duty runs the other way, onto the university, not onto you.

You count as disabled under the Act (s.6) if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, a long-term mental-health condition or a chronic illness can all meet that test. You do not need a formal diagnosis to be protected, because the definition is about impact, not a label.

The qualifier the other pages skip

Here is the trade-off most pages leave out. A university owes you reasonable adjustments (Equality Act 2010, s.20) and must not discriminate against you (s.91). But that duty is only switched on once it knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that you are disabled. Stay silent and the duty never bites: you cannot be discriminated against over a condition the university does not know about, and you cannot claim it failed to adjust for something you never told it. Silence is your right, but it quietly lets the institution off the hook.

Disclosing is also what unlocks the practical support:

• A learning support plan setting out your agreed adjustments.
• Exam access arrangements, such as extra time or a separate room.
• Specialist mentors and study-skills tutors.
• Disabled Students' Allowance, worth up to £27,783 a year in 2025/26 and 2026/27.

You usually need written evidence, such as a diagnostic report or a letter from a doctor, to unlock exam arrangements and funded support, even though you do not need a diagnosis to be protected in the first place.

What disclosure does and doesn't mean

Disclosure is confidential, and you control who sees it. The people who trigger support are the university's disability or wellbeing service, and telling them is what matters. They will not pass clinical detail to your tutors without your say-so. A university cannot lawfully refuse you a place or penalise you for disclosing. Ticking the disability box on your UCAS application is fine, but it is not the same as a formal disclosure to the disability team, so follow it up directly.

One correction worth knowing if you are coming straight from school or college: an EHCP does not continue into higher education. At university, Disabled Students' Allowance plus Equality Act reasonable adjustments replace it, which is why nobody carries the disclosure for you any more, and you have to start it yourself.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.