by Elise Polley
Going to university is a big decision, and one that comes with lots of considerations. For people with disabilities one of these can be whether they will be able to cope – myself included.
The Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is designed to help students with disabilities throughout their university experience. You apply for it at the same time as completing your Student Finance application and it’s in addition to the main student finance offering, not instead of it.
The disabilities that make you eligible may not be ones you would expect, the ones included cover a wide range, such as:
- Specific learning difficulty (e.g. Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD)
- Mental health conditions (e.g. anxiety or depression)
- Physical disability (e.g. you have to use crutches, a wheelchair or a special keyboard)
- Sensory disability (e.g. visually impaired, deaf or a hearing impairment)
- Long-term health conditions (e.g. cancer, chronic heart disease or HIV)
You will need to provide evidence of your disability when applying, for disabilities, long-term health conditions or mental health conditions you will need a copy of a report or letter from your doctor or consultant. For a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia you will need a copy of a ‘diagnostic assessment’ from a practitioner psychologist or suitably qualified specialist teacher.
The support you get is specific to you and your disability, tailored to ensure you get the most from it. Depending on your disability you could receive specialist equipment, such as a computer, voice recording software, speech to text software, or a trainer to show you how to use your new software, a non-medical helper, such as a British Sign Language interpreter or specialist note-taker, or general allowance, such as to provide for extra travel to attend your course or placement, or to cover print costs.
Your chosen university will most likely be able to offer you additional support on top of DSA. This support is more likely to be internal adjustments, such as letting you have additional time during exams, access to presentations prior to lecture, access to a disability support officer, specialist study workshops, use of a computer during written exams, accessible accommodation and more. These will vary between universities so check out the support available at the universities you are considering applying to, before making your choice.
Once you’ve applied, you’ll get confirmation within six weeks as to whether your application was accepted, but it can take up to 14 weeks for your support to be put in place. Once you’ve had confirmation, you’ll need to contact an assessment centre, this is where you will discuss what you think would help you during your course. This is paid for through your DSA allowance.
The next steps will depend on the outcome of your needs assessment. If a non-medical helper has been agreed they will pay them directly, if equipment has been agreed they will either send you the equipment directly or, in some instances, reimburse you for costs.
After your needs assessment you’ll be contacted and informed of the next steps specific to your support – but remember, do not buy any equipment until you’ve been asked to, as you may not be reimbursed.
DSA does not cover disability-related costs that you would have if you were not attending a course, or costs that any student might have e.g. notebooks or pens.
Here’s my own experience of the support I received through both DSA and from my university.
Whilst at college I was advised to get a dyslexia test by a teacher because I would ‘mind blank’ on how to spell simple words, or words that wouldn’t took right when they had been spelled correctly. I spoke to our student services team who arranged a test for me to take college. From this they confirmed I was dyslexic. The college then made some reasonable adjustments for me; I was given 25% extra time in my exams and a scribe – this is someone who read out the exam question and then wrote down the answer I said out loud, and I did my exam in a separate room. Once I had these adjustments in place, I decided to re-sit my exams from my first year (A-levels used to have exams at the end of the first year, as well as the second, when I studied mine). With the adjustments in place, I achieved a grade higher in all the exams I resat.
When I was looking to attend university I contacted my chosen university’s disability service, told them I was going to apply and asked if there was any additional support they could give me. They asked if I had had an official diagnostic assessment that had taken place since I had turned 16. I didn’t realise that the one I had completed at college was for internal use only ,so it couldn’t be used to confirm my diagnoses.
The university helped me set up an official assessment at a location close to my home, they covered the majority of the costs for the assessment and I paid the remaining £75 (I think they paid £150 towards it). It was also the university who recommended I applied for DSA as I hadn’t heard of it beforehand. I completed the diagnostic assessment and my needs assessment, and was sent some equipment to use.
I received some speech recognition computer software called Dragon, I would talk into a headset and the computer would type out what I was saying. I also received a Dictaphone (audio recorder) that I could use to record my classes, I could then upload this into a different piece of software that I could put alongside the presentation used during the lesson so I could re-watch the lesson at a later date – this was something I found really useful, as I struggled to keep up when taking notes.
I also received some mind-mapping software as I said I found it easier to learn through visuals. I was also offered up to four one-hour lessons with a trainer, to show me how to use the equipment I had been given. And I was given my own printer, and I could claim back up to £120 worth of printing related costs per year, i.e. printer ink and paper.
My advice would be if you’re not sure if you are eligible, give student finance a call and find out, it can make a huge difference to your university experience and make things just that little bit easier. If you are eligible, apply for DSA as soon as possible so you can get that process started to get the help as close to the start of university as possible. Then contact your first-choice university and speak to them, to see how they can help.
I hope you find the above information useful, you can find more information on the Disabled Students Allowance here. If you have any questions about my experience, please feel free to ask me via Chat to Us (select the ‘staff’ tab) on our website.