Universities With The Best LGBT Support

Written by Dagmara Reczka University is a difficult time, not only because of lots of exams and essays to write, but also because it’s often the first time you’ve lived away from your home, without your family and friends around you. Experiencing that, you sometimes just want to know that you are in a safe place that fully allows you to be who you are and supports you no matter what. Knowing that, Stonewall, the LGBT supporting charity, created Gay by Degree – a list of the most LGBT friendly universities in the UK – has scored UK Universities points relating to a checklist of resources and support LGBT people. The online guide measures universities but purposefully does not rank them as according to Luke Tryl, who researched the guide, the Universities they contact are constantly developing their LGBT support and it is simply difficult to rank something so constantly fluid.
The ten points on the Stonewall’s checklist are:
1. Anti-homophobic bullying policy and mandatory training 2. Student sexual orientation monitoring 3. Explicit welfare support and info for LGB students 4. Society for LGB students 5. Events for LGB students 6. Consultation with LGB students 7. Specific career advice for LGB students 8. LGB staff network 9. Stonewall Diversity Champion 10. Engagement with the wider community
Apart from the list prepared by Stonewall, LGBT students can also share their own experiences in the “tell us more section". Each entry in the Stonewall’s guide is supported with practical information on the University (fees, UCAS points, website) and a short description of available LGBT support (such as names of the LGB societies and information on the city’s gay scene. Due to the character of the list, it’s difficult to pinpoint which Universities have THE best LGBT support, so instead, we’ve listed some of the most well-known Universities alongside their score. To find out more, visit gaybydegree.org.uk
Aberdeen: 6 Anglia Ruskin: 6 Bath: 6 Birmingham: 9 Brighton: 4 Bristol: 5 Cambridge: 7 Cardiff: 10 Dundee: 2 Durham: 7 East Anglia: 8 Edinburgh: 6 Essex: 9 Exeter: 7 Glasgow: 9 Goldsmiths: 2 Hull: 6 Imperial College: 7 King’s College: 6 Kingston: 4 Leeds: 6 Lancaster: 7 Liverpool: 8 LSE: 6 London Met: 3 Manchester: 5 Nottingham Trent: 6 Oxford: 8 Queen Mary: 7 Queen’s, Belfast: 5 Salford: 9 Southampton: 6 Sussex: 7 UCL: 9 UAL: 6 York: 7

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