Advice
Thank you for visiting our Advice Service website. Please take some time to review our online advice. You can use the tabs above to find information on academic, finance, student life and housing issues. If you need some extra help and support after following this initial advice or you can’t find the answer to your question, please contact us using our enquiry form below.
Service Update 24th May 2024
As a result of short staffing, we currently have reduced availability for appointments. We will book appointments where we have availability but may only be able to offer advice by e-mail. Our e-mail response time is currently between 2-5 working days. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Make an enquiry
Please use our contact form to make an enquiry.
When you contact us, the first person you’ll usually hear back from is one of our Advice Service Assistants. They’re student staff who can tell you about our service, work out how we can best support you and assist you with your next steps.
In some cases, you may need to contact the University to resolve your problem. Our Advice Service Assistants will aim to direct you to the best department to help you. Where we can’t help, we’ll always try to recommend another service who can.
If the situation is more complex, we’ll arrange for an advisor to get back to you. We may recommend an appointment, or an advisor will give you advice by e-mail.
Opening Hours
- Monday: 10am – 4pm
- Tuesday: 10am – 4pm
- Wednesday: 10am – 4pm
- Thursday: 12pm – 6pm (12pm – 4pm out of term time)
- Friday: 10am – 4pm
We are available all year round both in and out of term time. We close on weekends, public holidays and occasionally for staff training or administration days. We may also have occasional closed days due to short staffing.
Our Services
We offer advice through face to face, over the phone and by e-mail. Our face to face service is being available both in person and via video call. We can’t always guarantee that you will meet your advisor in person. If you would prefer a face to face meeting, please let us know.
If you are attending an in person meeting and you would like your advisor to wear a mask, please just ask.
Our aim is to provide our service in the most accessible way for you. We want our service to be accessible to all who need to use it.
We understand there may be times when we need to change the way we do things so that you can use our service. If you think we can help you by making some adjustments, please tell us.
Other ways to contact us
If you’re contacting us for the first time and would like to use e-mail, please fill in our contact form. Your enquiry will be sent through to our Advice mailbox.
Alternatively, you can phone us or visit our office.
Office : Find us on the 1st Floor of the Students’ Union. Our office can be accessed by any of the three main stairwells or by lift. The lift is located by the right-hand stairwell as you enter the SU from Oxford Road.
Tel : 0161 275 2952
E-mail / ongoing support : If you have an ongoing case the best way to stay in contact with your advisor is by e-mail or via our reception team. If there are any developments in your case and you would like further advice, please update us as soon as possible. You can e-mail us directly to provide us with updates about your case, phone us or drop in during our opening hours.
E-mail : advice.su@manchester.ac.uk
E-mail Response Times
We aim to reply to e-mail enquiries within 2-5 working days. We usually reply to most e-mails within 2 working days, but our response times can be longer during periods of high demand or short staffing.
We prioritise enquiries by urgency. Where a deadline applies, we will try to get back to you within this timeframe, but we cannot guarantee this. We may also not be able to give advice at short notice.
We ask you to contact us at least 5 working days before any official deadline you are working to.
We understand that you may be very worried and could be facing challenging circumstances and we would like to reassure you that we'll always try our best to get back to you as soon as we can.
Confidentiality
The Advice Service is confidential. This means we won’t disclose your contact with the Service unless we have your permission or there are exceptional reasons.
There are some limited situations where we may share your information without your consent. For example:
- If you tell us about a significant risk of harm to yourself or others, we may have to report our concerns to the University or emergency services.
- We may be required to share information with third parties for the purposes of safeguarding children or adults at risk.
- There may also be occasions where we are required by law to disclose information e.g., in relation to criminal matters where a court order is issued.
If you’re enquiry relates to another department in the SU, we may contact or forward your e-mail enquiry to the team who can best answer your questions. Please tell us if you don’t want to us do to this.
Your Data
We are committed to treating your information with respect and ensure our processing complies with the UK Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This sets out the different reasons for which an organisation may collect and process your personal data.
Legitimate interest is our main legal basis for processing your data. If you like to know more about the other conditions we use, please see our full Advice Service Privacy Statement.
How we use your information
We collect and record your personal information, details of your enquiry and any advice given. We also keep a record of any ongoing contact we have with you. We do this to ensure we are giving accurate and appropriate advice and so that we can offer ongoing support with your case. We also maintain records for quality purposes.
We store your information on our secure case recording system. This system is encrypted, and your case file is only accessible to staff involved in running the Service. Records are stored for 6 years after the date we close your case. After this time the records are destroyed.
We also process your information when you use our online contact form, or when we communicate with you by e-mail. If you would like more information about this, please see our Advice Service Privacy Statement.
Advice Service Privacy Statement
Contact Form
Academic Advice
We’re here for you through any academic problems you might face during your time at Manchester, including appeals, complaints, mitigating circumstances, disciplinary issues and course/university transfers. We offer academic guidance and support that is free, confidential, and completely independent from the University. Advisors are familiar with University procedures, and can provide advice, advocacy, or simply someone to talk to. We are here to help should you encounter any difficulties with your studies during your time at the University of Manchester.
Finance Advice
We know that balancing your finances whilst at uni can be challenging. However, we’re here to help with any financial worries you might have!
Here at the Advice Service, we can offer advice and support on a range of money matters, including Student Finance, access to funding, financial worries and hardship, banking issues and government benefits. If you’re struggling with debt, we can also support you to access specialist advice.
Student Life Advice
Your health and wellbeing during your time as a student is important to us and we understand that life at University can present you with many different challenges. We’re here to help you take care of your health and wellbeing and support you when things may be difficult.
Our advisors are here to help you with anything personal that is going on for you. We’ll provide a confidential space where you can talk to us about anything that’s on your mind. We can help you to access additional support through the University and relevant external support organisations.
Housing Advice
Wherever you live, your accommodation is one of the most important parts of your life as a student and you should feel happy and safe living there.
However, we know that student accommodation can bring some stress, particularly if it is your first time living away from home. We’re here to help you with any worries you might have whether your living at home, in halls or a private house. We offer advice and guidance on a range of housing issues including signing a contract, deposits, council tax, issues with your landlord, disrepair, tenant disputes and ending your tenancy early.
Useful information on renting, moving in best practice and how to resolve issues can be found here.