Throughout your child's time at school or college, parents and carers are part of the information loop. You receive reports, have opportunities to discuss their progress with teachers and are contacted if they need to involve you.

At university, that changes. Your child is an adult and the university's relationship is with them. You are no longer automatically part of the communication chain, so may know very little about how they are getting on unless they choose to tell you.

Understanding that shift before university gives families time to prepare for it. Some of the situations that might otherwise catch you by surprise can be discussed beforehand, while your child is still in Year 12 or 13 and you are still closely involved.

Support at university works differently from support at school or college. Existing arrangements, including exam access arrangements, do not simply transfer automatically.

If your child has a disability, long-term health or mental health condition, a specific learning difference or another specific support need, encourage them to contact their university's disability or student support team as early as possible, particularly where arrangements may take time to put in place.

Also, having received support at school does not necessarily mean the existing paperwork will be sufficient. Depending on their needs and the support being requested, they may be asked for medical, diagnostic or other supporting evidence.

Universities have responsibilities to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, although what is appropriate will depend on the individual student and their course. Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) may provide additional study-related support for eligible students and is separate from the university's responsibility to make reasonable adjustments. How students apply for DSA varies across the UK.

If agreed adjustments are not being provided, your child should raise this with the university. If their disability makes it difficult to communicate or deal with university processes, the university should take this into account too.

Make sure your child has their own copies of relevant diagnostic reports, medical evidence and existing support documentation, and check what evidence their university will require.

They should also understand the support they currently receive and why, as they will increasingly need to explain their own needs and follow up arrangements themselves.

Depending on the university and the problem, the starting point might be a personal tutor or academic adviser, the course team or a student support service. Your child should make contact early, particularly if illness or other unexpected circumstances are affecting an exam, coursework or another form of assessment.

A university module may be assessed in more than one way. For example, part of the mark might come from coursework and part from an exam. If a student fails one part, they may only need to retake that assessment rather than the whole module, depending on the university's regulations.

Similarly, universities have formal processes for taking circumstances that affect assessment into account, although you may see different terminology, such as mitigating circumstances, extenuating circumstances, exceptional circumstances or additional consideration. There will usually be a deadline or window for submitting a request, and supporting evidence may be required. Your child should check their university's procedure in advance and reach out as soon as they know there is a problem, rather than waiting for their results.

The follow-up options will depend on what has been affected and the university's regulations. They can include being granted an extension for work, re-sitting an exam, or some opportunity to complete an assessment or, in some cases, repeating a module or the full academic year.

If another attempt at assessment is offered, your child may come across the terms capped and uncapped. An uncapped attempt allows the mark achieved to count in full. With a capped resit, the mark that can count is limited, often to the percentage pass mark. The cap may apply to the assessment being retaken or to the overall module result, depending on the university's rules.

A resit following a failed assessment may also be treated differently from another attempt granted because mitigating circumstances have been accepted. Your child should check what they need to retake, whether it is capped and how the new mark will be calculated.

If your child is questioning whether they have chosen the right course, they should speak to the university before making decisions about changing course, taking time out (sometimes called suspending studies) or leaving university altogether. A personal tutor or academic adviser is often a good starting point and can direct them to the right team if necessary. They should also check the academic and financial implications before making a final decision, as these will depend on their circumstances.

Encourage your child to become comfortable asking for help themselves rather than waiting until a problem has escalated. Being able to explain a problem, find out who they should speak to and follow something up when necessary are all part of the growing independence that comes with preparing for university.

Parents should not expect universities automatically to provide information about an adult student's marks, failed assessments, academic progress, attendance or engagement, or their use of disability or wellbeing support.

At some universities, a student can give permission for certain information to be discussed with a parent or another person. How this works varies, and permission can be limited to particular information or circumstances.

Universities commonly ask students to provide an emergency contact when they enrol or register. Some use the term trusted contact, or allow students to nominate one for situations involving serious concerns about their wellbeing.

This gives the university someone it may contact in certain circumstances if there is a serious concern about the student's health, safety or wellbeing. Exactly when that person can be contacted will depend on the university's policy and the circumstances.

Being named as an emergency or trusted contact does not give you general access to your child's academic or personal information, and you should not expect to be contacted about ordinary academic difficulties. There are circumstances where information can be shared without a student's consent, including where sharing is necessary and proportionate to protect someone from serious harm.

Talk about what you both expect communication to look like once the university is dealing directly with your child. It can be useful to discuss whether they would tell you if they were struggling academically or something was beginning to affect their studies. The gradual shift in influence as children become more independent can take some adjustment for parents too, so talking about it beforehand can help avoid discovering later that you had very different assumptions about what would be shared.

If you have a genuine concern about your child's welfare, you can contact the university. You can give the university information about your child, even when confidentiality means the university cannot give information back to you.

The right contact will depend on the university. It might be student services, a wellbeing or welfare team, accommodation staff or another designated contact.

Staff may try to contact your child directly and, if they live in university accommodation, the university may be able to arrange for someone to check on them in person. Who carries out that check varies between universities, but it could be a member of the accommodation or residential team, a hall warden or supervisor, or university security or estates staff.

The university may therefore be able to act on the information you provide even if it cannot tell you what it knows about your child or what action it has taken.

If there is an immediate or serious risk to someone's safety, use the university's emergency arrangements where appropriate and contact the emergency services if necessary.

Talk about how you expect to keep in touch and what you would each find helpful if you could not reach one another. When your child registers, encourage them to think carefully about who they name as their emergency or trusted contact and to keep those details up to date. Once you know where they will be living, keep the relevant accommodation and university contact details somewhere accessible.

Location sharing is another question families sometimes consider. If you decide to use it, agree with your child beforehand what you are both comfortable with and how it will be used.

University brings a different level of responsibility for students, not just academically but in how they manage the practicalities, decisions and conversations that come with it.

For parents of students in Year 12 and Year 13, there is time for them to grow into that responsibility. Giving them opportunities to take more of the lead now, while you are still there to guide them when needed, can help these habits become more second nature before they reach university.

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