If you're eligible for DSAs, you must complete a DSA application in your MyFunding account.
How to apply
Once your bursary award has been processed and your attendance on the course has been confirmed, the DSAs application form will be available from the 'Apply' section of your MyFunding account.
To support your claim, you must upload evidence which includes an explanation of your disability, condition, or specific learning difficulty.
You must upload diagnostic evidence of your disability. If you have more than one medical condition, you must upload evidence for all of them.
The diagnostic assessment must have been carried out after your 16th birthday to be valid for your DSAs application. If you need a post 16 assessment, your university disability advisor may be able to assist you in organising this.
If you have a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) such as dyslexia or dyspraxia, you must upload a diagnostic assessment from a practitioner psychologist or other suitably qualified specialist teacher.
For any other disability or medical condition, you must upload a recent letter from either:
- your GP or consultant
- another qualified medical practitioner or appropriate specialist
This must confirm:
- the nature of your disability
- how it affects you in your daily life
- how it affects your ability to study
- if you can recover from it
We'll not pay the costs for providing any diagnostic evidence or information.
We cannot use confirmation of any benefits you receive as evidence.
If you've received DSA before from another funding authority such as Student Finance England (SFE), you must upload a copy of your previous study needs assessment report and previous DSA award letter.
Based on the medical information you give on your application form, we'll decide if you should attend an assessment of study needs. If this is needed, a letter will be sent to you confirming how to arrange an appointment at a registered centre.
You do not need to complete an application for each year of study. You only need to upload new medical evidence if your disability has become more severe.
You can apply for DSAs for your academic year at any time before the end of that academic year.
Applying for DSAs towards the end of your course
You may still be able to get specialist equipment if there is evidence it’s needed.
We may ask you to consider if there are cheaper alternatives to buying equipment.
The assessment of study needs report may recommend you have initial training in using equipment and will give quotes to hire the equipment instead of buying the item.
Processing your application
If your application is accepted, we'll confirm by letter we can cover the cost of an assessment of study needs.
If you need help arranging an appointment or contacting the Assessment Centre, speak to the disability advisor at your university.
You must not arrange for an assessment of study needs before receiving written confirmation from us to say your claim has been accepted. The written confirmation must be taken with you to confirm the cost of the assessment will be met by us.
The assessment will be carried out by a person with specialist experience at an independent assessment centre or a centre within your university or college. You must arrange this with the disability advisor at your university or college.
Your assessor will submit a report to us by post or email. We'll use this to calculate any DSAs you may be entitled to.
There is no guarantee you’ll be awarded all the support they recommend. When processing any recommendation from your assessment report we must make sure any equipment or allowances awarded are appropriate to your disability or condition. We must be satisfied the extra cost is due to your disability or condition.
Once we’ve processed the report, we'll write to you confirming what additional support you've been awarded.
When you receive DSAs in future years, you'll receive an award letter based on your initial assessment of study needs report. A further assessment is only needed if your disability has changed.