Good evening,

I need some advice- I am applying to an PhD programme for which the company is a 'two ticks' employer. This effectively means that they must interview any candidates who meet the minimum requirements.

I have a long term health condition for which I was registered as 'disabled' at my undergrad uni but did not transfer this to postgrad (my course leader was aware and helpful with giving me extensions for assignments without me actually registering a disability with the university). I graduated a year ago and have been self employed since then so it has not been an issue.

I have made a couple of previous PhD applications before but they did not have the standardised form (and I was going to put my medical history into my cover letter!) so have not come across this problem before- if I had been hired by the university I would have registered this after they had made me an offer.

I am just worried that if I did put myself down as disabled, and was offered the PhD, the offer may be revoked as I am not disabled in the classical sense. As clearly this system must get abused quite heavily!

The application is due this week so annoyingly I cannot go to my GP to ask about this in time...

Any advice? Thank you all!

Could you perhaps phone the university's disability service and ask for their advice? I guess that if you are able to register as disabled when you start the PhD then you should be able to classify yourself as disabled on the application form. Is there no space on the form to explain what your disability is? This website contains a definition of disability under the Equality Act plus a link to more detailed guidance:


https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010

EDIT: that should read I was *not* going to put my medical history into my cover letter

Thanks Aisling, that was really helpful! I think going to the guidelines I would be classified as disabled. It was also useful to note 'a tendency to set fires' does not class you as disabled... On the form I would put disability- long term health condition as they do not provide options for what is eligible.

It is not with a university, rather a company, I may try ringing up their admin service to just confirm this!

Ticking the disabled box effectively guarantees me an interview so I want to make sure I am not inadvertently abusing the system

Ha ha that's really funny. Good to know employers aren't obliged to interview any pyromaniacs that apply for a job or PhD!

Good luck with your application!