My tips for applying for Disabled Students' Allowance

My son Daniel has just started his first year at university. While in school, Daniel had support in place as part of his Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP), so it was something of a shock to learn that EHCPs do not apply in higher education.

University support is funded through Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA), a government funding scheme that covers some of the extra study-related costs for students with a disability. There is a guide to the application process on the National Deaf Children's Society's website, but even armed with this information, it was still a massive learning curve, and I hope that our experiences and tips will help others.

The key advice we were given at university open days was to apply for DSA as early as possible. Students can apply for DSA online at the same time as applying for student finance, which usually isn’t until the end of March. When applying, students need to submit evidence of their disability and support needs, so we used the weeks before to gather evidence in advance.

Although EHCPs do not apply in universities, it’s a useful document to send as supporting evidence when applying for DSA. We had used Daniel’s previous annual review to ensure that his EHCP reflected the type of support he would need at university. See if you can get an electronic copy to upload when applying for DSA. Other useful documents might include audiology or Teacher of the Deaf reports.

In addition to this, students must submit a disability evidence form, signed by a medical professional. A good tip is to download the DSA disability evidence form (PDF) and get it completed in advance so you are ready to upload it with the application. Our GP surgery charged for this, so be aware that you may need to pay an administration fee.

Once DSA has approved the application, they will issue a DSA1 letter, and the next step is to book a student needs assessment. Since February 2024, this has been contracted out to two companies, Study Tech and Capita. The DSA1 letter will advise you on which company to contact to book an assessment.

Appointments are booked online, and assessments can be done remotely or face-to-face. There are pros and cons to both, but as a British Sign Language (BSL) user, Daniel preferred a face-to-face assessment with a BSL interpreter present. This is where we hit a barrier, as the only slots available were for remote assessments.

Despite making phone calls on Daniel’s behalf (there was no BSL relay or text service), I eventually submitted a complaint to the Student Loans Company who responded, “When a student chooses a face-to-face assessment, they should be able to select an assessment centre, time slot and specify any special requirements they may need to access the needs assessment.” So, do push back if you are told there are no face-to-face appointments available, and make a complaint if necessary.

Once you have an appointment, make sure that you get the full address of the assessment centre. Often, assessments are undertaken using rented office space, and we spent ages looking for the DSA assessment centre which turned out to be rented space in an office building. It may help to check the DSA assessment centre locations online at GOV.UK.

I also recommend doing some preparation before the needs assessment. Firstly, think about what type of support might be needed at university. This does not include adaptations for accommodation, such as vibrating alarms, as this is the responsibility of the university. Support could include equipment and software or what is termed “Non-Medical Help” (NMH) such as a lip speaker, specialist notetaker, BSL interpreter or specialist support professional.

DSA chooses the provider for NMH support, not the student, but it is always worth stating a preference during the assessment appointment. We had already done some research; we checked which companies the university usually worked with and asked deaf friends for recommendations of good providers and which ones to avoid. DSA will usually choose the cheapest provider, but you can look at the list of NMH providers to see how fees compare before stating a preference.

Make sure to note down the name and contact details of the assessor as they are the first point of contact if your support needs change or you are having problems accessing NMH support. The expected standards for providers are outlined in this document (Word).

Once DSA has approved support, they will send you a DSA2 letter. This will specify any equipment to be provided and who will provide NMH support, such as BSL or notetaking. An important thing to flag up at this point is that the supplier is not automatically notified, so it is up to the student to contact their supplier to discuss their future support. I recommend doing this as soon as possible, particularly if communication support is needed for any online equipment or software training as we had issues getting BSL support in place for this.

At the same time, send a copy of the DSA2 letter to the university's disability team as they need to start planning well in advance. The time flies by very quickly between results day and start of term, and they are usually extremely busy during that time, so the earlier they receive it, the better.

Once the DSA application process is done, the next step is to wait for results day and hopefully success. Good luck!