Advice & Support – Welfare Advice

Whether you live in Halls, the private rented sector or Council accommodation we can advise you on a wide range of matters including:

Looking for somewhere to live
Deposits
Guarantors
Tenancy Agreements
Repairs
Harassment/Illegal Eviction

For all aspects of Student Housing visit the following site:

Directgov Student Housing

UNIVERSITY ACCOMMODATION:
You can access the University Residential Services pages here to find information on the Halls of Residence and much, much more.

Link to Studentpad where you can browse available accommodation (halls, private halls and landlord houses) which includes photos, prices and specifications.

Studentpad also have a useful Housing Guide which is definitely worth a look at - Housing Guide

It is important that student accommodation meets high standards and meets the National Code of Practice for the Management of Student Housing UUK and we are proud that the University of Sunderland supports the Code fully.

If you are unhappy with a particular service or any other aspect of your University provision you are able to access the Student Complaints Procedure.  We can guide and accompany you through this procedure. 

We can also help if you:

are in breach of the Rules in Respect of Student Conduct & Discipline OR

feel you are the victim of bullying, harassment or discrimination.

Where you have problems with goods and services (including utilities such as gas, electricity) we can assist you and advise you on your rights.

For further information and advice you could try visiting the following sites:

Trading Standards

Consumer Direct

Many students work part-time to support themselves financially throughout their time at University. 

Often, some employers take advantage of students leading to a number of problems including; unpaid wages, unpaid holiday pay, unfair dismissal, National Minimum Wage issues etc. 

If you are having problems with an employer, please let us know.

For all work related enquiries you can contact ACAS for free, impartial advice.

ACAS

You could also visit Student Tax Services

This site is designed to explain Tax and National Insurance matters relating purely to students including methods of claiming tax back. They have included a free calculator on the site for you to check to see if you are due a refund.

Legal Problems
(including Court Summons/County Court Actions/Small Claims)

We are able to assist you to a point.  However, unfortunately, we do not have our own solicitor, but if you need legal advice and we are unable to help we can arrange for you to see a solicitor anywhere in the North East.

Also:

Community Legal Advice is a free and confidential advice service paid for by legal aid. They can advise you via their Advice Line (0845 345 4 345) or visit their website:

Community Legal Advice

Discrimination of any form is unacceptable. Nobody should suffer because of who they are and nobody should put up with being harassed and discriminated.

ARCH Sunderland allows people that live, study and visit the city to report racist, religious, homophobic and transphobic incidents in various ways.

If you would like more information about Arch or to report a racist, religious, homophobic or transphobic or disability hate incident speak to the Students’ Union or click here to go to to Arch Sunderland website.

The above list is by no means exhaustive; it just covers some of the main areas of enquiry that we deal with.  So, whatever your problem, it’s always worth contacting us because we can probably help you in some way.

Stephen Barksby (stephen.barksby@sunderland.ac.uk)
Cheryl Klein (cheryl.klein-1@sunderland.ac.uk)

Students’ Union
Ground Floor, Edinburgh Building
Chester Road
Sunderland
SR1 3SD

Tel: 0191 515 3030
Fax: 0191 515 2441