DSA initial assessment in June what happens to any funding for this year (24/25)?

Hi Evelyn, if your assessment is on 17/6 you'll likely get your letter of approval (DSA2) around 3 weeks later. So you can order any equipment immediately and that may be delivered in a couple of weeks.
Any human support (ie mentoring) you can book as soon as you have it agreed.
Tbh it’sublikely to have much impact on this academic year as I'm assuming your year ends soon?
Is there something you specifically need right now?
Needs assessments are usually structured to discuss all aspects of study like reading, writing assignments and note taking. The assessor should show you suitable software then once all is agreed they will write up a report with recommendations which goes off to slc. The assessment usually takes 1-2 hrs
In terms of the wording/diagnosis, it’sunlikely there will be any difference in the assessors approach or your eligibility for various things, so I wouldn’t worry about that. It may be they have put the category of condition instead of the actual names of the condotions on your paperwork to help protect your privacy.
I hope that helps

Hi, the dates of your academic year won’t impact when you can order your equipment. But you may have to wait for the mentoring until the new academic year. Unless you Will be doing re-sits during the summer?
It sounds like your university has an in-house mentoring service. Can they provide interim support until your DSAs are agreed? They can also support you in other ways such as giving you extensions or other reasonable adjustments.
Ref the diagnosis, yes, the assessor should be referring to your medical evidence and the things you say to guide what recommendations they make, so you don’t need to worry about that bit

Hi, the dates of your academic year won’t impact when you can order your equipment. But you may have to wait for the mentoring until the new academic year. Unless you Will be doing re-sits during the summer?
It sounds like your university has an in-house mentoring service. Can they provide interim support until your DSAs are agreed? They can also support you in other ways such as giving you extensions or other reasonable adjustments.
Ref the diagnosis, yes, the assessor should be referring to your medical evidence and the things you say to guide what recommendations they make, so you don’t need to worry about that bit

Hi let me ask you a question.
Is it normal for the DSA assessor to rush the appointment? I had my initial assessment appointment and it was super rushed. For example it was booked for 10am for 120min which meant it shouldve been booked until 12pm (midday) but I was rushed out at 10.30am because the assessor claimed it was done and over. I have a friend who has the same diagnose than me and she was given ALOT more help than me from DSA if that makes sense. I tried to complain but was told I couldn't wasn't allowed to.

What happened during the assessment?

1) the appointment was booked for 120 min (2hrs) from 10am to 12pm last tuesday (17 June)
2) The original assessment was with a guy whose been doing it for 5 years (I looked on his linkedin) and was switched to a woman whose been doing it a few months (according to her linkedin - I am one of them where my anxiety and depression needs to know who and what exactly where I am and with who etc)
3) I got to the appointment a little early but the assessor got there 5 minutes late and the first thing she said was "have you got your visa on you? Your university and SFE requested it". This is a statement that didn't sit well with me more because academic year started 23 September 2024 and its now June, why did the university tell her to tell me? It was a very odd comment. I understood it IF I needed a visa and my university told me and I ignored their direct communications to me (which I haven't and didn't it might take me 2 or 3 days to respond but I wouldn't have allowed a visa issue sit ignored in my (uni or personal) email and even if I did ignore it, its odd they told Capita (the company doing my assessment) to tell me!!! Same as SFE why would they tell capita/dsa to tell me?
4) Now she rushed the WHOLE appointment and was basically done by 10.30am claiming she needed to prep for the next appointment that was at 12pm. This was very odd because she claimed she needed time to prep for the next appointment but she didn't "prep" mine. She showed up at 10.05am for a 10am appointment but needed 1hr 30 to prep the next one? Very odd
5) This form, I was told about it in February this year and it was submitted in mid March and I had the email from SFE around 23 April to arrange the initial appointment, unfortunately yes that email stated I needed to book it for the next 7 days (end of April/begining of May) which unfortunately could not be done as the only appointment available was 17 June (last week), which was fine, not a problem etc, and I understood etc.
The issue with this form was nowhere on it say which academic year you want the application it was for. During the assessment (last week) the second thing she said (after hammering on about me needing a visa and she only shutted up when I shut it down about where she got her info on that) was this DSA application was for the 2025-2026 application, despite the fact I have applied for it in March 2025, and rightly assumed it was for the 2024-2025 academic year. She also then followed it up with "well you would have to reapply for DSA next (2025-2026) academic year. This in itself made zero sense of "if this current form and assessment is for next academic year and you are also saying I need to reapply for DSA next year whats the point of this assessment today/this form I filled in in March when it is not even valid anymore right now because I have to reapply and redo all this and none of this is "really for next year" and I have just wasted my doctor's time doing this form for this year, and you know how busy every gp surgery/doctor is", if that makes sense. She also said the dsa form for the 2025-2026 academic year
My university's ASSIST team, I asked them about this after the dsa appointment and they said its wrong and I don't need to reapply
6) One of the thing I needed in lecturers was a physical note taker. This was an advise that was told to me both by my university's personal tutor as well as the university's ASSIST team (who deals with and knows the DSA form, back to front and has been assisting me with the DSA form since it was brought to my attention in February 2025)
I know at least one person on my course who has the exact same problems as me (we're both diagnosed with Anxiety and Depression, but I think mines more severe than hers as sometimes I have issues getting out of bed because of my depression but she can just about getting out and into university etc). It is weird because the assessor told me I was not allowed a note taker under dsa/sfe and when I mentioned my friend being in the same situation and being funded by dsa/sfe the assessor told me off and her exact words was "well yes because your friend is being funded by student finance wales" and this was despite me telling her MULITPLE times that 1) my friend is under SFE not SFW 2) she LIVES in northampton, her home address and her term time address is the SAME ADDRESS which is Northampton and Northampton is under SFE not SFW. But I am not sure what her problem is because she keeps insisting that my friend and I have different diagnose when she has not seen my friend's diagnose and that my friend is under Student finance Wales despite being told where her "home address" (non term time address) falls under England. Same as her term time address and both def falls in SFE.
She can't provide/wouldnt recommend note taker and there I was thinking this DSA was meant to make it easy for disabled students but it was hard and I had to fight tooth and nail for certain things I know I need. She also told me the university provides the note taker for FREE. Nope, not according to everyone I spoke to in the university, from Student services to my personal tutor to the university mental health team to the head of my program to the dean. Someone's lying about it and I don't know who. It is odd alot of people in the university told me the complete opposite of my assessor!!!!
7) Now one of the things I needed was a laptop as I have been doing all my school work on my phone all year. Now I wasn't made aware of DSA until February - form was submitted in March and I was told I could get a laptop but yes there was a charge for it, but due to a few unexpected health problems I had overspent my loan on them. The assessor I have asked and told her can I pay for it when the academic year starts in September 2025, because you (the assessor) claims this is application isn't for the 2024-2025 academic year but for the 2025-2026 academic year and as this assessment will be cancelled and I would need to reapply and re assessed in September (anyway) and as I only have £150 left in the bank and I am struggling to do my assisnments on my phone and I have already failed 2 modules from Semester 1 and this was confirmed at the resits in April (for semester 1) I am on course to failing at least 1 module from semester 2 and the resits for semester 2 is in July her arguement was "why should I approve this for September?" This was despite her telling me all of the above this assessment wouldn't be for the current academic year and you said I'd have to redo the entire form and application in September, and despite me telling you I was doing my work on my phone and I have failed 2 modules and the resits for that was in April so shouldn't that suffice in my struggle? Her answer being no because her words was "I am going to try get half the budget applied to this academic year. Don't think that can be done like that. It is either the ENTIRE budget for the currect academic year or there is no budget for the current academic year at all.
This was also an arguement she picked an issue with, claiming "well how do you know you "definitely" failed 2 modules in semester 1?" This was despite me telling her multiple times that the July resits are for SEMESTER TWO and Resits for Semester 1 was IN APRIL. She kept telling me off for it that Semester 1 resits are in July because thats when they were when she was at university. I don't think she understands that EVERY university is different with when they do certain things like resits from semester 1 and 2 and how you (eg) apply for extensions or deferrals as well as term dates, graduations etc. But she seems to think every university runs all of that the exact same way.
I don't know what was wrong with her but alot of things she said did not add up. Not only that the appointment was booked for 2 hours but she rushed the entire appointment and forced it to finish at 10.30am despite the appointment being booked from 10am to 12pm and she showed up at 10.05am claiming she needed 1hr 30 minutes to PREP THE NEXT CLIENT. Is that normal? Weirdly I have spoken to SFE and they said the application for the current academic year but when I phoned capita up they said me AND sfe was wrong. Sfe told me that the 2025 dsa form isnt even "open/live" for applying" and the assessor told me the 2025 dsa form went live for application in April 2025 but sfe says different and I am being told I was wrong by Capita.

Hi Evelyn, that’s definitely much faster than most assessments but not unheard of. Did the assessor manage to go through different areas with you where you might struggle on the course, give you time to explain concerns you have, and sufficiently go through and compare software and other recommendations with you? Do you know what all was recommended? I would imagine it would be difficult for you to have an adequate assessment in just half an hour unless you were instantly very clear about your needs and had a good idea about what you require.
It’s odd they asked to see a Visa. I’ve no idea why the assessor would need to see that. If Student Finance approved you for funding then that’s you approved. The assessor would only need to look at your DSA1 letter which shows you have been approved and that should be enough evidence to do the assessment. It’s true you need to reapply each year but this is just a quick form Student Finance asks you to fill in just to determine whether you are still on the course. It shouldn’t change any support that was recommended via your assessment. Student Finance might just not provide your entitlement letter until your academic year has been approved but you can still be assessed regardless. All of these kinda background checks is done prior to agreeing your approval and shouldn’t have anything to do with your assessor. If your assessor had concerns they could simply call Student Finance to check. It sounds like they were quite unprepared. They should never leave early for another assessment.
Sadly when it comes to the note taker, your assessor is correct. Note taking support is not something Student Finance England fund (unless it’s for a hearing impaired student) and even then it’s a different type of note taker that’s needed for that. Your university is responsible for funding note takers. Info on who is responsible for funding can be found on page 50 of SFE DSA Guidance doc:https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1879/2122-dsa-guidance.pdf
If you’re not happy you could always raise a complaint and ask for another assessment with a more experienced assessor ASAP and have it prioritised so your support is approved more quickly. I know someone who did this and were much happier with their next assessment 😊 I’ve had a few DSA assessments before and they can vary quite a bit depending on assessor.

Hi Evelyn, that’s definitely much faster than most assessments but not unheard of. Did the assessor manage to go through different areas with you where you might struggle on the course, give you time to explain concerns you have, and sufficiently go through and compare software and other recommendations with you? Do you know what all was recommended? I would imagine it would be difficult for you to have an adequate assessment in just half an hour unless you were instantly very clear about your needs and had a good idea about what you require.
It’s odd they asked to see a Visa. I’ve no idea why the assessor would need to see that. If Student Finance approved you for funding then that’s you approved. The assessor would only need to look at your DSA1 letter which shows you have been approved and that should be enough evidence to do the assessment. It’s true you need to reapply each year but this is just a quick form Student Finance asks you to fill in just to determine whether you are still on the course. It shouldn’t change any support that was recommended via your assessment. Student Finance might just not provide your entitlement letter until your academic year has been approved but you can still be assessed regardless. All of these kinda background checks is done prior to agreeing your approval and shouldn’t have anything to do with your assessor. If your assessor had concerns they could simply call Student Finance to check. It sounds like they were quite unprepared. They should never leave early for another assessment.
Sadly when it comes to the note taker, your assessor is correct. Note taking support is not something Student Finance England fund (unless it’s for a hearing impaired student) and even then it’s a different type of note taker that’s needed for that. Your university is responsible for funding note takers. Info on who is responsible for funding can be found on page 50 of SFE DSA Guidance doc:https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1879/2122-dsa-guidance.pdf
If you’re not happy you could always raise a complaint and ask for another assessment with a more experienced assessor ASAP and have it prioritised so your support is approved more quickly. I know someone who did this and were much happier with their next assessment 😊 I’ve had a few DSA assessments before and they can vary quite a bit depending on assessor.

Thanks for getting back to me.
So I have talked to SFE, this entire thing is literally going around in circles!!! SFE says to complain to Capita, Capita says to complain to SFE.
I know my DSA half the stuff was never touched upon for example I am getting help from the university mental health team but as the university only offers 6 sessions for all students, any sessions past the 6 needs DSA funding and the assessor never bothered to ask about that, I had to force the assessor to add and deal with it (force it after she "ended the assessment session" if that makes sense) as I am also awaiting for NHS (and I won't bad mouth NHS but the waiting list for NHS referrals takes a very long time).
Let me ask you a "personal question" from an assessor point of view. What would you offer for a student with anxiety and depression? Just wondered as I have just received my DS2 and I know the university mental health team also said I should've been offered a mental health assessor thing (with Jamworks for example) and some mind map thing but I wasn't offered it at all. I was just offered the following:
Zotero (Free)
Writing Helper (New 2024)
Jamworks Notes
Scholarcy
TalkType Dictation
ClaroRead (includes AutoCorrect)
Non-Medical Helper support
Band 4: Specialist Mentor (SM-MH)
AT Training
Assistive Technology (AT) Training
I have spoken to Capita about it and they said to talk to Capita to add it on and Capita says to tell SFE for them to request a new assessment.
Can you also explain how much SFE contributes to the laptop purchase? I know I have to pay £200 for it (unless I want upgrades), which isn't an issue I have heard people say you (the student) pays £200 and then SFE also pays something towards the laptop. Some people says SFE contributes around £200 (total £400) for the laptop. I say this because Capita has also emailed over the letter with upgraded laptops etc but they also said in the email the "websites for approved upgrades". How would that work as I want to get an apple tablet, even the cheapest tablet which I think is the ipad airs that are £320, I know apple does student discounts and does do some student promotions in July to October, can I order from Apple and how would that work, in terms of if SFE does contribute to the purchase of the laptops etc
It was also very weird because I know someone on my course who has the exact same diagnose as me and they got offered alot of stuff and the assessor was like "well thats because their permanent home outside of term time is Wales" and I hadn't even told her where that person lives and even tho I did correct her and said "well no that person's permanent address during term time and outside of term time is Milton Keynes (which is in ENGLAND). She commutes from Milton Keynes to university and the assessor just keeps telling me its in Wales. I personally think she is an idiot tbh. She also claims Dublin is in China and the capital city of the country directly opposite of Wales (which is Republic of Ireland) is Belfast and the capital city of Northern Ireland is Glasgow!!!!
I wasn't allowed alot and I had to fight tooth and nail for things I know I was and should be entitled to under DSA and I thought DSA was to make things easy. I understand having to fight tooth and nail for things with PIP/anything to do with DWP but from what everyone says about DSA, wasn't my experience!!!
Can I request the assessor to be changed back to my original assessor? I say this because my assessor was changed to the one who did my assessment literally the day before the assessment in June

Hi Evelyn, this all sounds like it’s been totally and unnecessarily stressful for you. If I were you, I’d ask the company that did your needs assessment if you can meet with another assessor. Even just a chat with another assessor on anything additional you need or may need changed. I’m not certain how the process works but I’m sure if you ask for a new assessment as additional recommendations are needed then the company should guide you, especially if you mention you weren’t happy with your first assessment.
As far as I’m aware, the DSA laptop costs about £400 which means SFE will contribute about £200. SFE see laptops as a requirement for all students studying regardless of whether they have a disability or not. This is why it’s only partly funded if it’s needed solely to run high demanding software necessary to support you on the course. Sadly, this means you wouldn’t be able to upgrade the laptop to an iPad because some of the software won’t run on an iPad. This is something the assessor should have discussed with you though and then went through other options to see what’s best for you.
If your university offer their own Mentors then it should have been them that are requested as providing your mentoring support, unless they don’t have the availability. In some cases, a university might offer this type of support but they are not registered with SFE to provide it via DSA.
The Band 4 Mentor that was recommended for you is the only type of one-to-one Mental Health support the DSA provides. This is different to counselling which the university can provide, but often it’s just for a few sessions. The Mentor should be able to work with you on a regular basis to offer tailored support for a mental health condition.
I’m sorry I can’t be more help. I really do hope you get this sorted soon.