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How is the DSA such a mess?

I just can not understand how the government has managed to mess the DSA up this badly. I've been in the process of applying for it for months now and nobody seems to know what's going on. The Government is changing the entire system but they seem to have decided to change it without actually deciding what to change it to, so students applying for the DSA this year are being left in a kind of limbo. Nobody - not my school, the universities I applied to, nor even SFE apparently - seem to know what's going on. My school's SENCO arranged a meeting with the person in charge of the new EHCs in the borough and they didn't even know the small amount of information that has been made public - the situation is absurd to the point where the people responsible for these changes seem to know the least of all. I arranged my study needs assessment, as requested by SFE and the university, and then got an email saying that they're no longer able to offer them at the moment, until the changes are finalised - at some indefinite date...

How can they do this? Going to university as a disabled student is difficult enough - not only do they seem to be reducing the already little amount of support that we can access, but they're doing it in a manner which couldn't be much worse if they tried. After months of trying to find out what on earth is going on, the conclusion seems to be that absolutely nobody knows - and of course, whilst this is probably some kind of low-priority debate for politicians, it's people like me who are suffering. Anyone else in this situation? Sorry about the rant.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

Blovesdreamies

Right with you there. Not sure why dsa assessments cannot continue as before (2014 guidelines), until they sort this out. I thought I had read somewhere most of the changes were being deferred until 2016 in any case, so why would this be such a problem? I am pretty sure reading some posts on here that some 2015 entrants have already had an assessment before the suspension - presumably these were based on 2014 guidelines. Not sure how that works!

Reply 2

NJones

You can thank all the people who demanded Apple Mac computers despite never having used them or needing them, along with over zealous claims for NMH support. The result is a massive annual bill that has proven too costly to foot and now needs addressing. This is the result.

No 2015 assessments have taken place, but you may see that some 14/15 applicants are coming through the system late.