A comprehensive guide to the Disabled Students Allowances funding for students entering higher education in 2021/22

1. The Disabled
Students
Allowances

2. What is it
Who is it for
What you get
How you get it

3. What
is it
The DSAs are funds that the government provides
to pay for support for students in higher education
They are not a loan and are not means-tested
They do not take funding from or affect your
general student finance package
And they pay for support rather than giving funds
directly to students

4. Through the DSAs, undergraduate and post-
graduate students can get up to £25,000 in funding
On average, each student receives support worth
£1,750
A government report in 2019 found that nearly
40% of students stated they could not have
completed their course without receiving DSA
funded support
What
is it

5. Who is it
for
80,000 students receive DSA funded
support each year, so more students than
you might think are eligible for the funding
Essentially, students are eligible for the
funding if they meet the legal definition of
being disabled, and this includes a large
number of student who may never think of
themselves in those terms

6. Who is it
for
This includes students with specific
learning difficulties, such as dyslexia,
dyspraxia or ADHD
Students with a diagnosed mental health
condition such as anxiety, depression or
bipolar disorder
Students with long-term health conditions
like diabetes, Crohn’s disease or multiple
sclerosis
And students with a hearing, visual or
mobility impairment

7. Who is it
for
Does the student have a physical or mental
impairment which has a substantial and
long-term adverse effect on his or her ability
to study?
And, can the student provide evidence of this
in the form of a diagnostic assessment or
from a GP, consultant, or other qualified
medical practitioner or appropriate specialist?
The main criteria to use is:

8. What do
you get
Travel
General
Non-medical help
Equipment
The DSAs are
made up of 4
different
categories of
support

9. The equipment funded by the DSA refers primarily
to software and hardware
There are a number of software applications
available through the funding to support different
areas of difficulty
For example, there is software to read text aloud
to support reading difficulties, software for
recording lectures to help with note-taking, and
specialist spelling applications, for students who
struggle with spelling and grammar
Equipment
What do
you get

10. Students who would benefit from the software but
don’t own a suitable computer for running it can
then receive funding towards a laptop
The DSA doesn’t fund the entire cost of a computer,
it provides a contribution towards it. Students must
also pay at least £200 of the cost
Other hardware available through the DSA include
printer/scanners, digital recorders, specialist radio
aid devices for students with hearing impairments
and ergonomic equipment such as keyboards, mice
and chairs
Equipment
What do
you get

11. Non-medical help
What do
you get
Specialist study skills support helps students with
developing effective strategies to support reading,
essay writing, notetaking, revision, time
management and other difficulties arising from
studying with SpLDs or ASD
The term non-medical help means personal
support (rather than support from equipment) and
for most students it refers to specialist study skills
support or specialist mentoring

12. Non-medical help
What do
you get
The support can address a range of issues, such as
coping with anxiety and stress, dealing with
concentration difficulties, time management and
prioritising workloads
Specialist mentors provide support to help
students address barriers to learning which can
arise from studying with a mental-health condition,
ADD/ ADHD or ASDs
Other non-medical help is available for Deaf/hard
of hearing students and students with a visual
impairment which includes note-taking support
and BSL interpreters

13. The general allowance component of the DSA
funds support that doesn’t fall into the other
categories. This tends to be the following:
The cost of the DSA needs assessment
The cost of travelling to the DSA needs assessment
Printing costs (ink and paper if the student has a
printer and/or printing costs from using university
printers)
Additional costs of private accommodation that are
incurred solely because of the student’s disability
General
What do
you get

14. Travel
What do
you get
The final component of the DSA funding is the travel
allowance
This can pay the reasonable additional costs of travel
to and from the university which are incurred because
of a disability
Generally this means that students who cannot, for a
disability-related reason, use public transport or walk
to university, can get funding to pay for the additional
cost of driving or taking a taxi

15. If you are a full-time student who receives
student finance through Student Finance
England or Student Finance Wales How you
get it
You can either apply when you make your
initial student finance application by
choosing DSA in the ‘other support’ section
Or select ‘change your circumstances’ if
you have already completed your main
student finance application

16. Part-time students need to fill in a form which
can be downloaded from
https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-forms
Students with specific learning difficulties
need a copy of their ‘diagnostic assessment’
completed by a psychologist or suitably
qualified specialist teacher
Students with physical or mental health
conditions need a report or letter from their
doctor or consultant, or a medical evidence
form downloaded from www.gov.uk/disabled-
students-allowance-dsa
How you
get it

17. Students funded by other funding bodies
should check online for application forms
DSA funding is available for students funded
by the NHS Bursaries, Student Awards
Agency Scotland, Student Finance NI, the
Higher Education Authority in Ireland and
Research Councils
If in doubt, the Disability Service at your
university are there to help with this, even
before you have started your course
How you
get it

18. Once the application has been approved,
students must attend a needs assessment
This is where the different support options are
discussed with the student to determine what
support they will need
Students should be shown any software that
may be beneficial and given the opportunity to
say what they think will help them
The cost of the needs assessment comes from
the DSA funding - students do not have to pay
for it
How you
get it

19. We provide needs assessments to students applying for DSA
We also provide information, advice and support with the
DSA process and how technology can support learning
Sign up for our email newsletter to keep up-to-date and
check out our social media for more tips and tricks
01252 721095 | info@ultimaeducation.co.uk | www.ultimaeducation.co.uk
Who are we