Autism Accreditation Scheme Award

In 2019, GCU became the first university in the UK, and worldwide, to be ‘autism friendly’ under the National Autistic Society Autism Accreditation scheme for universities. We secured renewal of our accreditation in 2023, gaining an Autism Specialist Award. The internationally recognised Accreditation Scheme is the UK's only autism-specific quality assurance programme for bodies providing services to autistic people and illustrates GCU's commitment to supporting its autistic students.

On receipt of our initial award in 2019, Professor Pamela Gillies CBE FRSE, Former Principal and Vice Chancellor of GCU, said: "Glasgow Caledonian University is delighted that its Student Wellbeing Service has become the first in the UK to be awarded National Autistic Society Accreditation. The accreditation recognises our pioneering support for our autistic students, much of which is already informing the work of other universities across the UK and Europe. The Wellbeing team is, like all our staff, fully committed to ensuring that GCU provides a welcoming and nurturing environment for all our students, regardless of their background or the personal challenges they may face. I am deeply impressed by the team's dedication to this task."

Catriona Mowat, GCU Wellbeing Service's Disability Manager, said: "Becoming the first to be accredited is a fantastic achievement, and everyone who has worked so hard towards this feel rightly proud of our success. Going through the accreditation scheme was really helpful – enabling us to identify and reflect on what we were getting right, and where we could continue to develop and improve. Over the past decade GCU has worked hard to understand and support the needs of our autistic students. We recognised that as well as delivering more inclusive services, we also needed to devise and deliver additional services to meet their specific needs.

"Our innovative approach was kick-started in 2010 when we ran a summer programme for autistic students to address anxieties about starting university, and to meet staff and make friends before starting. The University now has more than 100 students identified as autistic, and we support them through tailored services such as mentoring, we have seen the benefits of this approach in our improved retention of autistic students, as well as lots of really encouraging feedback – we know our approach works because our students tell us it does.

"Similar programmes are now run at universities across Scotland and we have even had visitors from universities in Hungary, who piloted their own programme last year following a fact-finding visit to GCU. The service supports a range of students throughout their time at GCU whether they are experiencing stress, homesickness, mental health issues, or having difficulties with their course due to a disability. It gives practical, counselling, mental health and wellbeing support through for example, one-to-one appointments, group sessions and workshops."

Christine Flintoft-Smith, Head of Autism Accreditation at the National Autistic Society, said: "We're delighted to accredit the Glasgow Caledonian University team. University staff have worked incredibly hard to adapt and improve their practice – and this is already making a difference to the autistic students they work with. We hope that their achievement will encourage other universities and colleges to work with us and improve their own autism practice."

The Disability Team would love to hear your views on how we can make GCU more autism-friendly – especially if you consider yourself to be on the autism spectrum.

For more information, or to offer your views, contact the Disability Team.