Equality and diversity

The School of English is committed to creating an inclusive environment that supports equality and diversity. The School aims to achieve fair and equal representation for all, enabling all members of staff and students to contribute and reach their full potential. All staff operate under the University’s equality, diversity and inclusion policy.

The School is against any kind of discrimination and harassment on any basis, including but not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. For more information on what constitutes bullying or harassment, please see the University’s bullying and harassment page. If you need to report or talk with someone about issues relating to equality and diversity, please contact either the School's Equality and Diversity Officers or the Head of School.

School policies, guidance and initiatives
- School of English equality, diversity and inclusion accessibility fund (PDF)
- School Equality and Diversity committee minutes
University policies, guidance and initiatives
- Academic promotions
- Adoption leave policy
- Career break policy
- Carers, childcare and school holidays information
- Caring fund application process
- Dignity and respect at work policy - this policy sets out the procedure for raising, addressing and resolving concerns about individual or organisational behaviour in regard to bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation.
- Equal pay statement
- Equality and diversity inclusion policy
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion terms of reference (PDF)
- Family friendly policy
- Flexible working policy
- Good Gender Equality Practice in Employment
- Grievance policy - this policy sets out the framework for raising, addressing and resolving concerns in the workplace.
- Guidelines for scheduling meetings
- Health and wellbeing at work initiatives
- Maternity leave policy
- Paternity leave policy
- Policy and governance portal
- Report and Support - The University is committed to creating a culture of inclusivity, diversity, equality and safety for students and staff, and to this end has recently launched a Report and Support tool. All employees, students, and members of the public can use Report and Support to report complaints or concerns to the University and to access support information.
- Shared parental leave policy
- Sickness absence policy
- Trans staff and student policy
- Unconscious bias awareness
- University Athena SWAN support
- University Mediation Service - This is a service for all staff and students and members of the public who are connected to the University who want to resolve disagreement informally. Mediation is a confidential, impartial and voluntary process in which trained mediators help people in dispute work out an agreement.
School policies, guidance and initiatives
University policies, guidance and initiatives
- Advice and support centre
- Disabled student allowance
- LGBTQ+ support and information
- Parental leave policy for postgraduate research students
- Report and Support - The University is committed to creating a culture of inclusivity, diversity, equality and safety for students and staff, and to this end has recently launched a Report and Support tool. All employees, students, and members of the public can use Report and Support to report complaints or concerns to the University and to access support information
- Saints LGBT+
- Sexual misconduct - advice and guidance
- Trans staff and student policy
- Students' Association Help Hub - includes links both to internal University and external resources and support networks
- University Mediation Service - This is a service for all staff and students and members of the public who are connected to the University who want to resolve disagreement informally. Mediation is a confidential, impartial and voluntary process in which trained mediators help people in dispute work out an agreement.
AccessAble is an external website which provides disabled access information about numerous School and University buildings:

Athena SWAN

Athena SWAN started with the Athena Project and the Scientific Women’s Academic Network (SWAN) advancing representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) in Higher Education. It has since been expanded to include Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law (AHSSBL). Athena SWAN covers professional and support staff and also transgender staff and students. Levels of the award are Bronze, Silver and Gold.‌

The School submitted its Athena Swan application (PDF) and was awarded a Bronze Award in December 2019. (The submission has been redacted in accordance with GDPR guidelines advised by Advance HE and to remove the possibility that individuals will be personally identifiable from the data. The School has tried to maintain as much information as possible while complying with these guidelines.)

Report an incident

The Report and Support tool is available to report any concerns you have related to wellbeing, bullying, discrimination, abuse, assault or harassment of any sort. You can report anonymously or using your contact details. If you provide your contact details, a member of staff will be able to contact you to help provide support. This tool can be used by students, members of staff, members of the public or visitors to the University.

Mediation Service

The Mediation Service is available to students, staff and members of the public, experiencing disagreement or conflict, who would prefer a less formal method of discussing University-related disagreements and grievances. The service is also available for groups or teams.

The Mediators are staff members from The University of St Andrews who have undertaken formal mediation training accredited by Scottish Mediation. Several Post Graduate students have also qualified in Mediation. Mediators act impartially and separately from University Schools and Services. They are solely interested in helping those engaged in the service reach a mutually acceptable solution.

Mediation is a confidential, informal, voluntary, self-determined and without prejudice process. If you or someone you know is involved in a disagreement that is in its early stages or has reached an impasse, please contact mediation@st-andrews.ac.uk for an informal chat about how the mediators can help.

Equality and diversity

Resources for staff

Resources for students

AccessAble guides to School buildings

Athena SWAN

Report an incident

Mediation Service