Laptop loans for students

If students are experiencing difficulties accessing the online or digital aspects of their learning they should discuss this with their Academic Personal Tutor and/or SES student support team to establish the nature of the difficulty and explore solutions.

If access to appropriate equipment is an issue, laptops may be available for students to borrow and mobile internet can be provided.

The process for requesting a laptop is set out below.  Whilst a request is being processed, please advice students of the following places that they can access equipment that may be helpful in the short term.

Information and help with home internet

There is information and tips about home internet and broadband on the IT website.

  • A student home wifi/internet helpdesk will be running from Mon 10th May to Fri 30th July.  
  • Students would access the desk by ringing the main IT Service desk telephone number 0113 343 3333 and then selecting option 1, when prompted.
  • The desk will be available Monday-Friday between the hours of 08:00-16:00.

 

Initial checks to make

Laptops and mobile internet are available on loan should students need them, but please ensure all avenues have been explored before going down this route – it may be that hardware is not the issue and that with IT support, training or advice, the student’s issues may be resolved.

If it becomes apparent that the student needs IT equipment, typically a laptop but also mobile internet, in order to access their learning, the relevant Faculty Student Support Manager will be able to make a request to IT services for the provision of loan equipment.

Laptop loans and mobile internet are available to all UG and PGT students where, following a review of their situation, it is clear that a laptop loan or mobile internet is the best solution.

The following groups will be prioritised:

  • Plus Programme
  • Lifelong Learning Centre
  • Sociology Foundation Year
  • Gateway to Medicine
  • Care experienced / estranged students
  • Carers
  • Leeds Masters Scholars
  • Mature students

This process does exclude short term requests. At this moment in time we cannot offer this as a service due to significant logistical challenges. We will let you know when this service resumes.

Loan request process

  • Students should discuss difficulties in accessing their learning with their Academic Personal Tutor or their Student Support Office.
  • The Student Support Offices will use an IT online form to capture all relevant information gathered from students and/or their tutors. Not all support colleagues will have access to this form.
  • Where anything other than the standard specification is needed the Student Support Office will need confirmation as to which specification is needed and why (e.g.  e-mail from a module or academic personal tutor explaining the reasons).
  • IT Service Desk will fulfil all loan requests raised and will allocate a laptop for that specific student.

It won’t be possible to record a loan if there is a request in pending status or an active loan recorded for the same student

Three specification options are available:

STANDARD

  • Latitude 5310 BTX Base
  • 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-10310U (4 Core, 6M cache, base 1.6GHz, up to 4.2GHz)
  • 13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080) screen with built-in camera and microphone
  • 16GB RAM
  • 256GB Solid State Drive

HIGH PERFORMANCE

  • Latitude 7410, BTX
  • Intel Integrated UHD Graphics, i7-10610U 4-Core Processor
  • 14.0" FHD (1920 x 1080) screen with built-in HD Camera /Microphone
  • 32GB RAM
  • 512GB Class 35 Solid State Drive

HIGH PERFORMANCE + GPU (GRAPHICAL PROCESSING UNIT)

  • 15.6in Mobile Precision 3551
  • Intel i7-10750H
  • 32GB RAM
  • 512 Solid State Drive
  • Nvidia Quadro

The equipment is supplied to be used as the student’s device and will not have software pre-installed.

Laptop & mobile internet collection

  • Students will receive an email notification when the laptop is ready for collection from campus.
  • Student collection by appointment will be the default option offered to students. Special handling notes, e.g. for send out, will be provided but this will only apply to special circumstances (e.g. if a student is in quarantine or shielding).

Mangement of loan renewals

Loan term options offered when raising loan requests are as follows:

  • Until the end of Semester 1
  • Until the end of Semester 2
  • Until the end of the summer period

IT Service Desk will sent a report to the Student Support Offices on a periodic basis outlining the active loans recorded in their system.

Student Support Offices will review, identify loans to be extended and laptops to be collected, and provide this info to the IT Service Desk.