applying for dsa

hi everyone. i’ve just finished my a levels and year 13, and am going to university in september. i’ve been approved for both tuition & maintenance loans, but i haven’t actually applied for dsa (disabled students’ allowance), and i’m not sure if i’m going to or not.

here’s my reasoning:
1) i don’t know when the deadline is
2) i’m not sure that i even need it
3) the process looks confusing & tiring
4) my parents will likely not help me
5) a lot of support doesn’t require dsa

i’m autistic, diagnosed at age 12 and i also have a history of mental health conditions, so chances are i am eligible. but i’m not 100% sure what i’d use that money for. i don’t know if i need anything *specifically* because i am neurodivergent and studying, if you get what i’m trying to say.

anything like therapy i don’t think is covered, as those aren’t costs which have been brought on from studying. i can imagine myself struggling with the new environment and everything, but the uni (warwick) already offers support for all students, disabled or not, even without any dsa.

however, i think it might be useful to apply, as if i don’t need it i guess i just won’t end up having it. i’m planning to contact my uni’s disability team, and ask them what support they have both for dsa recipients and just students in general. what are your thoughts / experiences?

hi everyone. i’ve just finished my a levels and year 13, and am going to university in september. i’ve been approved for both tuition & maintenance loans, but i haven’t actually applied for dsa (disabled students’ allowance), and i’m not sure if i’m going to or not.

here’s my reasoning:
1) i don’t know when the deadline is
2) i’m not sure that i even need it
3) the process looks confusing & tiring
4) my parents will likely not help me
5) a lot of support doesn’t require dsa

i’m autistic, diagnosed at age 12 and i also have a history of mental health conditions, so chances are i am eligible. but i’m not 100% sure what i’d use that money for. i don’t know if i need anything *specifically* because i am neurodivergent and studying, if you get what i’m trying to say.

anything like therapy i don’t think is covered, as those aren’t costs which have been brought on from studying. i can imagine myself struggling with the new environment and everything, but the uni (warwick) already offers support for all students, disabled or not, even without any dsa.

however, i think it might be useful to apply, as if i don’t need it i guess i just won’t end up having it. i’m planning to contact my uni’s disability team, and ask them what support they have both for dsa recipients and just students in general. what are your thoughts / experiences?

3) It's not that bad. You can print off their form for medical evidence, give to your GP to fill in and then send it off to DSA. It can take some weeks before you get things delivered. The biggest obstacle is getting the proper evidence from the doctor, as they need to specify how your condition affects your ability to study, everything else falls into place afterwards.

for the medical evidence form, do i need to have my GP fill it in before or after i apply for DSA?
hopefully i don’t need an appointment, since it’d be easier for me to just email it over / hand it in.

for the medical evidence form, do i need to have my GP fill it in before or after i apply for DSA?
hopefully i don’t need an appointment, since it’d be easier for me to just email it over / hand it in.

You should get that evidence beforehand as that's the evidence they ask for when applying iirc. You won't need an appointment, just ask the receptionist to get a doctor to fill it out for you. There may be a fee involved.

The big one I've found helpful is having a specialist mentor (Warwick can sometimes provide them for a limited time without DSA, but they don't have funding to keep that up forever). I meet mine once or twice a week, and find it super helpful for staying on track, but also for navigating all of the complicated uni systems and communicating between different teams/departments. They've been particularly good for navigating exam arrangements, mitigating circumstances, en suite subsidy etc., as well as dealing with accommodation services being a bit of a nightmare in general, and ways to cope with living independently alongside studying an intense degree. It's also just nice to talk things through sometimes, like ambiguous instructions on assignments: having a staff member within the uni there for reassurance or to chase up those "silly" questions for you makes things so much more doable!

Some of my friends also have DSA study skills mentors on top of this, which I personally wouldn't find helpful, but I know can be good for more essay-based subjects.

I don't really use my DSA software (although I might in later years where some lectures aren't recorded), but I use the printer and ink allowance that I got through DSA, and it saves me several hundred pounds a year - well worth having as a student! I also got laptop insurance paid for (since I need my laptop to run the DSA software), which saved me another few hundred pounds last year when it broke.

As well as contacting disability services, I'd recommend getting in touch with two of the student societies to get a student perspective on support at Warwick, Enable and Autism at Warwick. Both have active discord servers if you wanted to get in contact with current students before you arrive, and other ways you can contact them on the SU site

yeah, having a mentor which you see regularly (esp to chat about mental health / autism) sounded really useful — i’ve just submitted my evidence, and am waiting for them to get back to me (hopefully relatively soon, so i can have the support in place).

how does the needs assessment work? i’m not going to stress over it until they’ve reviewed my evidence, but i don’t really get how it works. how do you choose which centre to do it at? since i’ll probably do it over video call for convenience, does it have to be nearby?

update: i’ve applied for DSA, now i’m waiting for my gp to send back the evidence form. after that, i just need to wait for my needs assessment. thanks for the help, i’ll probably have more questions so i’ll still post on here.

hi everyone. i’ve just finished my a levels and year 13, and am going to university in september. i’ve been approved for both tuition & maintenance loans, but i haven’t actually applied for dsa (disabled students’ allowance), and i’m not sure if i’m going to or not.

here’s my reasoning:
1) i don’t know when the deadline is
2) i’m not sure that i even need it
3) the process looks confusing & tiring
4) my parents will likely not help me
5) a lot of support doesn’t require dsa

i’m autistic, diagnosed at age 12 and i also have a history of mental health conditions, so chances are i am eligible. but i’m not 100% sure what i’d use that money for. i don’t know if i need anything *specifically* because i am neurodivergent and studying, if you get what i’m trying to say.

anything like therapy i don’t think is covered, as those aren’t costs which have been brought on from studying. i can imagine myself struggling with the new environment and everything, but the uni (warwick) already offers support for all students, disabled or not, even without any dsa.

however, i think it might be useful to apply, as if i don’t need it i guess i just won’t end up having it. i’m planning to contact my uni’s disability team, and ask them what support they have both for dsa recipients and just students in general. what are your thoughts / experiences?

No it doesn't have to be near by
I think most if not all are now online due to lockdown
For me once it was approved I got sent a link and it had a website which you put the post code in and it comes with online ones and you pick one and then just answer some questions, book an online time and then they'll ask you what sort of stuff you might struggle with

Hey, I know you have applied now but I follow this TikTok account that has loads of helpful DSA content and they also have a site with more info on it, might be worth looking at as you go through the process https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstudentneeds

The big one I've found helpful is having a specialist mentor (Warwick can sometimes provide them for a limited time without DSA, but they don't have funding to keep that up forever). I meet mine once or twice a week, and find it super helpful for staying on track, but also for navigating all of the complicated uni systems and communicating between different teams/departments. They've been particularly good for navigating exam arrangements, mitigating circumstances, en suite subsidy etc., as well as dealing with accommodation services being a bit of a nightmare in general, and ways to cope with living independently alongside studying an intense degree. It's also just nice to talk things through sometimes, like ambiguous instructions on assignments: having a staff member within the uni there for reassurance or to chase up those "silly" questions for you makes things so much more doable!

Some of my friends also have DSA study skills mentors on top of this, which I personally wouldn't find helpful, but I know can be good for more essay-based subjects.

I don't really use my DSA software (although I might in later years where some lectures aren't recorded), but I use the printer and ink allowance that I got through DSA, and it saves me several hundred pounds a year - well worth having as a student! I also got laptop insurance paid for (since I need my laptop to run the DSA software), which saved me another few hundred pounds last year when it broke.

As well as contacting disability services, I'd recommend getting in touch with two of the student societies to get a student perspective on support at Warwick, Enable and Autism at Warwick. Both have active discord servers if you wanted to get in contact with current students before you arrive, and other ways you can contact them on the SU site