A Needs Assessment is the term used to describe an informal meeting between you and an experienced Needs Assessor.
The Needs Assessor helps you identify what support you may need when undertaking your course, based on your individual circumstances.
Assessment Centre
You can attend a Needs Assessment at an independent Assessment Centre or at your university, if they have the facility to do this.
If you need any help arranging an appointment or contacting the Assessment Centre, speak to the disability advisor at your university.
The Assessment Centre must only consider the disability declared on your application that you've provided appropriate medical or diagnostic evidence for.
The letter we send asking you to attend a Needs Assessment will confirm the medical condition or specific learning difficulty for which the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) funding has been approved.
It's important you show this letter to the needs assessor in advance of your assessment taking place.
To be assessed for further help due to a disability which was not declared on your initial application, you must submit another DSA application and provide relevant medical evidence. We'll contact you with details of what you'll need to do to be assessed for these.
Needs Assessment Report (NAR)
After your Needs Assessment has been carried out, we'll receive a NAR which details your needs and any recommendations made by your Needs Assessor, including quotes for any support or equipment which may help you during your studies.
We'll review this within 20 working days of receipt and contact you to let you know if your DSA funding has been approved.
We may not always provide funding for everything recommended in your NAR.
The current guidelines state 'The BSA must be satisfied in each case that it is reasonable for the student to incur the additional expenditure to participate in the course, so funding may not necessarily be approved for all the recommendations made in your needs assessment'.
Students must not be advised by Needs Assessors to commit to any expenditure before we've sent approval. Reimbursements will not be given for support or equipment provided before a DSA application has been submitted and a Needs Assessment has been carried out.
Assessment Centre unable to get a quote
If the Assessment Centre you attended have been unable to get a quote for any recommended equipment or support you may need before writing your NAR, this may show as 'To be confirmed/TBC'.
We’ll process the NAR within 10 working days of receipt however we can only make payments for any equipment we’ve received a quote for.
You must contact the Assessment Centre who wrote your NAR and arrange for a quote to be sent to us for the equipment or support that’s showing as 'To be confirmed/TBC' on your NAR.