About Us

The Advice Service is an impartial team of trained and experienced advisers empowering students at the University of Reading to take control of their circumstances for positive change. Our advice is non-judgmental and aims to provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision about the options available. We provide free and confidential advice and representation on a range of issues relating to student life. Our service is available for all students: Undergraduate, Postgraduate Taught, Postgraduate Research, home or international.

We are part of RUSU, completely independent of the University, allowing us to support you without conflict of interest. Though independent, our Advisers have good links with University departments and services, and external organisations. This ensures that students receive the best possible advice and support.

Below are some examples of areas that we are able to advise students on:

Academic advice (i.e. academic appeals, extenuating circumstances, academic misconduct, fitness to study/practice, complaints and disciplinaries)
Housing advice (i.e. deposit disputes, problems with landlords, damp & disrepair, leaving a tenancy agreement and tenant disputes)
Money advice (i.e. Student Finance, welfare benefits, budgeting, utility bills, tax and financial hardship)
Other advice (i.e. consumer issues, employment issues)

We deal with a wide range of issues so if you are unsure just get in touch; if we can’t help you, we’ll direct you to the people who can.

For details about how to get in touch with us, please see our contact information and opening times at the bottom of this page. However you make contact, you will be allocated a specialist Adviser who will support you and advise you in the way that works best for you. If you come to the Advice Service in person, an adviser will meet with you in a private space within the ARC in the RUSU building, where you can discuss your situation or query confidentially.

Whether you are a first-time undergraduate, a fourth year postgraduate or a mature student returning to study - we are here for you!

Here are examples of the roles we can undertake to support you:

Give a confidential and supportive space to talk
Explain your rights & responsibilities
Explain University policies & procedures
Discuss your options and any potential consequences of these
Help complete forms & applications
Write letters of support
Accompany you to meetings & hearings
Signpost or refer you to other relevant agencies

Meet the team

Find out who our advisers are and their availability each week.

Service aims

We aim to provide practical solutions to emotional issues in a relaxed and friendly environment.

Service policies and procedures

To maintain a quality service and meet AQS requirements the Advice Team work within the following framework. These standards are reviewed annually.

Feedback and complaints

Your feedback is important to us, as it helps us maintain and improve our service. Our anonymous on-line feedback form has 8 quick questions and will only take a few minutes to complete.

Frequently asked questions

You'll find answers to our most commonly asked questions here.

Contact the Advice Service

advice@rusu.co.uk

Services which operate within the Advice Service have separate sessions: see their individual pages for further info on how and when to access them.

Following the current situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19), RUSU staff have been asked to work for remotely for the foreseeable future. This includes the staff within the Advice Service.

As a result, the Advice Service is unable to offer face-to-face appointment or a drop-in service at the current time, but we are still able to offer advice to students.

If you would like some support from the Advice Service then please complete our Talk to us form. Alternatively, you can email the service on advice@rusu.co.uk

Please be assured that an Adviser will get in touch with you as soon as possible, and that we can still offer appointments via other methods (for example, via telephone, Skype or Microsoft Teams).