St George’s University of London believes that becoming a parent or caring for a child should not, in itself, prevent any student from succeeding in their studies. St George’s is committed to being as flexible as possible to ensure that no student is disadvantaged due to pregnancy, paternity, parental responsibility, or maternity, while ensuring academic standards are not compromised.
The health and safety of a pregnant student is of paramount importance at all times, and all students covered by this policy should be treated in a sensitive, non-judgemental and confidential manner. Only members of staff who need to be informed for valid reasons will be notified of a student’s circumstances and this should be done only with the student’s prior consent. A risk assessment of all pregnant students is required as a health and safety measure and so staff involved in the risk assessment will need to know, and consequently any academic staff required to facilitate any following adjustments will also need to be informed, with the student’s consent.
Students are encouraged to notify St George’s as soon as possible about their pregnancy through their programme year lead, course director or equivalent and their programme administrator. Students entitled to partners’ leave should do likewise. It is intended that the programme year lead/course director drives the process of ensuring this policy is complied with and that the programme administrator oversees administrative tasks entailed in managing the process through pregnancy and maternity. Students who are also staff at St George’s will need to ensure they refer to the staff pregnancy and maternity policy as well as this one, and should contact Human Resources for more information.