Disabled Students Allowance for Dyslexics

What is the Disabled Student's Allowance?
It is available for UK students with disabilities (including dyslexia) who are undertaking full time courses in Higher Education. Part-time students, studying on a designated part-time higher education course are also eligible for DSAs, as are post graduate students. Nursing and Midwifery Diploma stude

nts are also eligible - there is specific information for Healthcare students. Open University students also have their own scheme. The award is intended to cover any extra costs or expenses a student may have to meet whilst studying, that arise because of a disability. DSAs do not depend on your or your parents' income and there is no upper age limit.

The rate of allowances for 2004/2005 (2003/2004 is in brackets) are as follows:

Specialist equipment allowance:

up to £4,565 (£4,460) for the whole of your course;

for dyslexic students this can mean computer, scanner, general purpose and specialist software, dictating machine, electronic dictionary, ReadingPen, pocket organiser, coloured overlays etc, insurance and course-long support for the equipment, according to your individual needs.

Non-medical helpers allowance:

up to £11,550 (£11,280) per year of your course (up to £8,670 for part-time students);

for dyslexic students this can mean training to use your specialist equipment (although this is sometimes included in the equipment allowance); extra help to deal with study skills, reading skills, work organisation, grammar, spelling and maths problems; but not extra tuition for your course.

General disabled students allowance:

up to £1,525 (£1,490) for each academic year (up to £1,140 for part-time students);

for dyslexic students this can mean extra photocopying, recording tapes (for lectures), coloured paper or even extra books if your dyslexia means that you cannot read books in the library in the normal way. As with the non-medical helpers allowance, part-time students are eligible for an allowance the equivalent percentage to their course.
These rates are the maximum you can get. They are meant to cover people with a high level of need, so most dyslexic students will get quite a lot less than the maximum. You will only get enough money from the DSA to cover the cost of the equipment or support that the LEA agrees that you need.

If you think you might qualify:
You should first have a look at the DfES Student Support web page for students with disabilities. The Bridging the Gap leaflet gives full details of the eligibility criteria and how to apply. The Disability Officer at your University or College will also be able to help you through the process. They may go under a lot of different titles (Special Needs Advisor, Student Services, Welfare Officer, Learning Support etc). You could do everything directly yourself, using the sources of information below, but the disability officer should make it much easier for you.

Assessment Centres:
You need to show your LEA recent evidence of your disability or dyslexia (typically an Educational Psychologist's report or update). You will then normally go to an Assessment Centre or Access Centre who will assess your needs for equipment, softw

are and support, taking into account the needs of your specific course. There is a new quality scheme for DSA assessment centres and assessors and an interim list of centres (near the bottom of the page) that have registered and which you can use. It is worth shopping around from this list for an assessment centre for three reasons:

to find one which is convenient for you -- whether at home or at University;
to ask how long you will have to wait for an appointment (at peak times this can be quite a few weeks);

More information:
Many Universities and Colleges have their own web information about DSAs and about how they support disabled students including those with dyslexia. Some with particularly good information include:

The Open University, which has many disabled students and is particularly disability conscious.

Healthcare:
For the first four years, support for students on undergraduate medical and dental courses is on the same basis as for other higher education students. Otherwise different arrangements apply although they can result in similar grants: See Financial Help for Health Care Students.
Part-Timers:
To apply for a DSA as a part-timer, your university should have copies of the DfES's form and information pack; so the best strategy is normally, as mentioned above, to get in touch with your Disability Officer. Otherwise get a pack from the DfES's free phone number 0800 731 9133 or their web site. Your institution has to certify the form, confirming your attendance, etc. You then send the form to your LEA with supporting evidence about your disability/dyslexia as outlined in the information pack.

Open University:
For OU students part time means taking undergraduate-level courses that amount to at least 60 credit points in any one year. The OU has its own DSA administration system, and nice, clear information about it.

Post Graduates:
Since the DfES have no direct statutory duty to post-grads (whose support normally comes via other sources) they make an allocation of a single award (as opposed to the three at undergrad level) of up to £5,500 (£5370) per annum. All needs have to be met from within this maximum.

Applicants fill in a form, part of which is normally completed by the university. They have to establish their residency qualifications and eligibility in the same way as undergrads. The university is asked to confirm course details.

Your university Disability Officer should know about the forms, but if they don't you can obtain them from the DfES web site.

Other courses:
Students on some courses outside Higher Education may also be eligible for a DSA.

Students in receipt of FE National Dance and Drama (DADA) Awards are eligible to apply for DSA. Manchester LEA administers the scheme for all students in England and Wales and the rules are the same as those for HE students. If anyone wants more info about the Dance and Drama Award scheme they should contact the DfES Publications Centre on 0845 602 2260 quoting reference D4 for a booklet.

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