As a student with a disability you have the right to be able to study on equal terms in a good study environment. You can get support from the university if you are a student or doctoral student and have a lasting physical, psychological or other limitation.

How to apply for support

When you have been admitted to a course or programme, you can apply by logging in to the Nais database using your computer identity. The application will ask you to describe your disability and how it affects your studies. The first time you apply you must also include a certificate verifying your disability. The disability should last at least 6 months.

To receive learning support, you must:

  • be admitted to a course or programme at the University
  • have a document certifying your disability
  • apply for support

Certificate verifying your disability

The certificate should verify your disability and be issued by a licensed healthcare professional such as a doctor, psychologist, audiologist or licensed dyslexia therapist. If you have not seen a healthcare professional for diagnosis, you can contact the healthcare service 1177 for more information on who to turn to. The certificate must include:

  • your name and the name of the person/institution issuing the certificate
  • the date of the assessment or the date you contacted the healthcare service provider
  • how long you have had a disability or had medical contact
  • how long the disability is expected to last
  • how the disability affects you

Apply through the NAIS database

What happens next?

After your application has been processed, you will be contacted by a member of staff who works with learning support.

After discussing your needs with one of our staff members, you will receive a NAIS-decision outlining the support offered, which you then present to your teacher. 

Support during your studies

You can apply for support when you have been admitted to a course or programme.

If you have a severe visual impairment, need a sign language interpreter, or if your teaching facilities need to be adapted, contact Learning Support before you start your studies to ensure that the support is in place for you as soon as possible. You may also apply for support once you have been accepted to your course or programme. 

The most common forms of support are:

1. Note-taking support

Notetaking support means that a coursemate will be compensated for taking notes for you during lectures and scheduled seminars.

You will need to ask a coursemate if they can be your note-taking support. When you have found a note-taker:

  • Send an e-mail to Petter Rasmusson with your note-taker's name and e-mail address.
  • Your note-taker will then receive all the information they need.

If you have trouble finding a note-taker, you can look for the Note-taking support module in your course in Canvas where you will find a list of students who are interested in being note-takers. If you cannot find the module in Canvas you can ask the teacher to download it.

  • You need to contact the student who you would like to be your note-taker.
  • Then you e-mail Petter Rasmusson with the note-takers name and e-mail address.

You need to be present at the lectures and seminars where you will receive notetaking support. 

2. Extra supervision

Can, for example, mean getting extra supervision in connection with your thesis or an internship.

3. Lecture material in advance

To help you follow presentations, teachers can make lecture material available in advance. Talk to your teacher to get more information about whether this is possible for you. 

4. Guide

A person to help you find your way around the University.

5. Audio and video recording during lectures

You can receive a recommendation allowing you to record lectures. 

6. Mentor

You may be entitled to help from a mentor, for example to plan and structure your studies. The support is structured around the individual students' needs. 

If you are interested in being a mentor you can find more information on the webpage Become a support person

7. Assistive software, speech synthesis and talking books

Your studies might be facilitated by various assistive software, such as spelling programmes, or speech synthesis programmes that reads text in word documents and on web pages. All students at the University, not just those who have been granted learning support, can download assistive software on their private computer free of charge. In addition, students with reading disabilities can turn to the library for access to talking books.

8. Support during exams

Common support measures during exams include writing your exam on a computer, time extensions and the opportunity to take an exam in a smaller group.

More information about exams

9. Technical equipment

You can borrow technical equipment such as dictaphones, digital highlighters and smart pens from Learning Support.

All students should have equal access to international opportunities, irrelevant of whether they have a disability or not. International opportunities can include an exchange semester, doing an internship abroad or writing your thesis abroad.

At partner universities you will receive a similar level of learning support to that which you receive at Malmö University. There is extra support available for writing your application for studies abroad. Within several exchange programmes, there is also the possibility to apply for extra funding if you have a disability.

If you would like more information or have questions about learning support and international opportunities you are welcome to contact the Department for Learning Support at pedstod@mau.se or International Office

Read more about international opportunities

Drop-in mentor support

Drop-in mentor support on Tuesdays 12.30-14.00

7 March

21 March

28 March

Drop-in mentor support is for students with learning support who are waiting to receive a mentor. During the drop-in mentor support you can ask questions, get help with planning and prioritising and also get some advice and tips about study skills and other forms of support. You can come to the Student Centre or take part over Zoom.

Come to Drop-in mentor support on Campus:

Come to The Student Centre, Neptuniplan 7, room NE:B1021 anytime between 10.30-12.30 on Wednesdays and knock on the door. We will let you know if we can help you straight away or if you need to wait outside while another student receives help first. 

Take part in Drop-in mentor support over Zoom:

To join the meeting using this link: Join Meeting

You will first come to the waiting room and will be placed in a queue. When it is your turn you will be let into the meeting room. If there are many students waiting for support your time with the mentor will be limited to 15 minutes. 

Know your rights: Support for students with disabilities 

According to the Swedish Discrimination Act, students with documented lasting disabilities have the right to special pedagogical and compensatory support if such a need exists. You can read more about your rights in the document titled The Rights and Responsibilities of Students at Malmö University

Support measures may take the form of aids/specialist equipment, adapted literature, specially equipped computers, support staff and adapted examinations. Students are required to submit an application in order to have their needs assessed. The student will be notified of the decision to grant support, and is responsible for passing on the information to their teachers. 

Teachers and examiners are required to consider the proposed measures in the decisions regarding adaptions to teaching and examinations, where decisions are reached pursuant to the Swedish Discrimination Act. However, the point of departure shall always be the intended learning outcomes stated in the course or study programme syllabus and adaptions shall be implemented in such a way that these outcomes can be examined. Examiners decide which adaptions are possible to make before examinations.

Read more about your rights and responsibilities in this guiding document.


Comments or complaints 

Any comments or complaints about the learning support service can be submitted to Malin Alfredsson.