How does DSA work?

Hi guys
I am planning to send off my student finance & I am eligible for dsa. Do i apply seperately from student finance? Also, how does it work? Heard you need a needs assessment & they recommend what you need to help your study needs... do the items they give, use up your dsa allowance, or is it on top of the allowance? Also what sort of things would they give?

Thanks
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Reply 1

feathergirl

Once you've applied for student finance, you should automatically be sent a DSA application form, this took about 2 weeks to arrive for me. Alternatively you can print the form off yourself here https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas/how-to-claim
You send this form and your proof back to DSA.

You'll need to obtain proof of your disability. If it's a physical/ mental health condition, you can go to your GP or consultant and ask them to write a brief history of your condition, your symptoms and how it affects your study. If it's a specific learning difficulty, the types of evidence you can send is on the DSA guidance notes (see link).

When your application is approved, DSA will send you a letter and email to say you can book a needs assessment, with a link to a website where you book this. Assesment centers are usually located in universities, so you'll usually have your assessment in the university nearest to your home. At your assessment they'll ask you questions about your condition, and how it affects you and then the assessor will make recommendations for the support and equipment you need. They get quotes from three different companies and send this to student finance.
It's then up to student finance to decide whether to fund all the things recommended.

DSA is not money that goes to you. It's a fixed amount that pays for specialist equipment and support whether it's a notetaker, keyworker, ergonomic chair, or specialist computer programs like claroread and Dragon. What you get depends on your disability, and how it affects your ability to study.

Also aim to sort all your finance stuff and DSA applications out as quickly as possible. DSA can take ages to be approved, so ideally you want to have got all the support in place before you start uni. :smile: