Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA)

Eligibility

You can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) if you live in England and have a disability that affects your ability to study, such as a:

• Specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia or dyspraxia
• Neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD or autism
• Mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression
• Physical disability, for example if you have to use crutches, a wheelchair or a special keyboard
• Sensory disability, for example if you’re visually impaired, deaf or have a hearing impairment
• Long-term health condition, such as cancer, chronic heart disease or HIV

You must also:

• Be an undergraduate or postgraduate student (including distance learning)
• Qualify for student finance from Student Finance England
• Be studying on a course that lasts at least a year

Your course must be in the UK and one of the following:

• First degree, for example BA, BSc or Bed
• Foundation Degree
• Certificate of Higher Education
• Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
• Higher National Certificate (HNC)
• Higher National Diploma (HND)
• Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)
• Postgraduate course
• Initial Teacher Training
• Level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

How to apply?

How you apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) depends on whether you’re studying full-time or part-time.

Full-time undergraduate students:

• If you’ve already applied for student finance, sign in to your student finance account to start your DSA application. The application for DSA should be on your ‘to-do list’ if you chose DSA in your application for other support. If it is not, select ‘change your circumstances’ to apply.
• If you do not have an online account because you applied for student finance by post, fill in a DSA slim form which you can find here.

Postgraduate students and part-time undergraduate students:

• Fill in a DSA1 form. You’ll need to apply for DSA each year.

If you require further information about how to apply for DSA, please speak to one of our disability advisors.

Needs assessment

Once you receive your DSA1 letter confirming you are eligible for DSA, you will be invited to attend a needs assessment. Remember, this is not a test. Your assessment is confidential and conducted in a relaxed, informal, and supportive environment with an experienced independent assessor. Your assessment may last up to 2 hours.

In your assessment, you'll have the opportunity to discuss how your conditions may impact your studies. Areas that will be discussed with your assessor include:

• Research and reading skills
• Writing academic work
• Note taking
• Managing and organising work
• Practical sessions, placements
• Field trips
• Additional course activities
• Travel and access to your higher education environment
• Access to, and use of, technology. 

Once those learning barriers have been identified, your assessor will suggest recommendations you could benefit from.

We understand this type of assessment can be nerve wracking. To help you get in the right mindset before your assessment, you may want to prepare by asking yourself some of these questions:

• What kind of support did I receive at school, high school or college?
• Is there any particular aspect of education that I’ve struggled with in the past?
• What strategies have I developed to overcome these challenges?
• What areas of my university course do I struggle or may struggle with?

After your assessment, your assessor will draft a report and send a copy to you. If you are happy with it, your assessor will send the final copy to your funding body for approval. They will also ask you for permission for the report to be sent to the Disability Service so we can support you with additional adjustments and support strategies at the university.

Types of support

Your DSA2 letter will include a breakdown of all the recommended support you have been awarded, and instructions on how to set up your support, which may include:

• Specialist equipment allowance. This can include ergonomic equipment and assistive technology (AT) that provides suitale technical solutions to help you study more efficiently. Technology includes hardware, like a laptop, and software, such as speech-to-text or text-to-speech.
• Assistive technology training. An assistive technology trainer will teach you to use the software and equipment you have been allocated. You will learn how to use the technology and embed it alongside effective study strategies. The training will help you to get the most out of your software and equipment. 
• Non-medical helper allowance.Providing specialist one-to-one support from a qualified professional in one or more of the following fields:
  • Specialist study skills support: A study skills supporter (sometimes called a study skills tutor) or supporter will help you understand your learning style, embrace your strengths, and work on study strategies to overcome challenges. 
  • Specialist mentoring: A mental health or autistic spectrum mentor will help you develop strategies to maintain positive mental health and ultimately feel happier and more confident while studying.
  • British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreter: BSL/English interpreters will translate BSL into spoken English and spoken English into BSL, for accessible communication while studying.
  • Specialist notetaker: A notetaker will make a comprehensive record of the content of lectures, seminars, and discussions in your preferred style and format.
  • Specialist Support Professional (SSP) for students with sensory impairment. This support is tailored to your sensory impairment. An SSP supports you through language modification, explanation, and revision of information. They also assist you to implement reasonable adjustments, plan workloads, structure assignments, access research sources, and prepare effectively for assessments.
• Other disability-related study support, including stationery costs, such as photocopying, printing, ink cartridges or paper.
• Travel allowance. This allowance helps with extra travel costs you may have to pay to get to university due to your disability. It can cover taxi fares or mileage costs to and from your home address to the university.

To learn more about non-medical help roles and how they can support you, please click here.

Is there any cost or payment associated?

You do not need to pay back DSA. Additionally, DSA would not impact any other disability benefits you may be in receipt of, such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The type of DSA support and how much you get depends on your individual learning needs - not your household income.