Here you can find answers to the most common DSA questions. If you need additional support or your question is not answered, please contact us.

First Steps

What is it?

The Disabled Students Allowance, or DSA, is additional funding to help students with extra essential costs as a direct result of a disability. This includes:

  • sensory or physical impairments
  • long term health conditions
  • mental health conditions
  • specific learning differences, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia
  • ADHD
  • autism

The DSA or its equivalent is normally available to students from the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. However, other students may be able to access support funding via other means. If you are unsure, please contact us.

What does it pay for?

You can get help with the costs of:

  • specialist equipment, for example a computer if you need one because of your disability
  • non-medical help support such as specialist study skills or a mentor
  • extra travel because of your disability
  • other disability-related costs of studying, such as a refrigerator if you require medication to be stored in a non-communal fridge

Different DSA providers can fund different support items, and so the above list is only general. Your specific needs and recommendations based on your funding body requirements will be assessed in an appointment.
Disabled Students' Allowance does not cover:

  • any disability related costs you'd have if you weren't studying, for example medication or special diets.
  • any non-disability related costs

The DSA also does not provide financial support, and so students do not receive money for anything not covered above.

Do I need to pay it back?

No – this support is to cover additional costs, and the only time you may need to repay would be if you leave your course early.

Is it means tested?

No – your household income or other financial factors are not taken into account. It is needs tested, meaning the amount of funds provided are based on your individual needs and the cost of these.

Am I eligible?

If you are a student from the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man with a disability you may be eligible. Although international students can’t claim DSAs, you may be able to get funding through your home government, sponsors or scholarships. There may also be charitable trusts and organisations that you can apply to for funding and so please contact us for more information.

You will need a copy of your evidence of disability. This could be a medical certificate, diagnostic report, or other evidence. A copy of a prescription is normally not accepted.

We always recommend that if you are unsure, it may be best to apply anyway and the DSA funding body makes the decision based on the evidence they have. If the evidence is not suitable, they will contact you and give you advice as to how you can get suitable evidence.

How do I apply?

If you are:

  • an undergraduate student
  • studying full time
  • with a student loan

You can usually apply directly by logging in to your Student Finance account and uploading your evidence.


If you’re not a full time undergraduate with a loan, you will need to fill out a ‘full form’ for DSA. These are based on your funding body:

Part of the form will request for the university to complete. Please can you complete all other sections as best you can, and send it to thehub@aston.ac.uk so we can complete the university section.

Please contact us for support in completing your application

 

Next Steps

Step 1: Needs Assessment

Once you have applied and your application has been agreed, will be asked to attend a Study Needs Assessment. This is an appointment to discuss your needs and to make recommendations for support, and can be done in-person or online. Although it is called an assessment, there is no testing and no wrong answers to any question they ask!

Students funded through Student Finance England, Wales, or Northern Ireland will be contacted directly by the needs assessment centre. Other students – please contact us and we can advise of a suitable centre.

After attending the appointment you should receive a Needs Assessment Report which states all of the recommendations you should receive, along with the cost of support.

If there is anything on your report which you are unsure of, or feel is incorrect, please contact the assessment centre as soon as possible.

Step 2: DSA Approval

Once your funding body has agreed the support, they should send you a DSA approval letter (often called DSA2) agreeing the support. If there is any item they do not agree with, they will state in the letter what is not (yet) funded.

Student Finance England students who are recommended a laptop through DSA are normally required to pay the first £200 towards the cost of the laptop. It may be possible to reclaim the £200 cost of the laptop. For more information, please see Aston Student Support Fund.

If there is anything on your approval letter which you are unsure of, or feel is incorrect, please contact your DSA funding body as soon as possible.

Step 3: Arranging Support

Once you have had the agreement, you should then be able to arrange your support. These are broken down into different aspects:

Equipment and training

Students funded through Student Finance England or Wales will be contacted by the equipment and training provider to arrange for this to be set up. Student Finance England students will be asked to pay the £200 laptop contribution if they were recommended this in their assessment.

All students have the option of upgrading their equipment to a higher specification but you would need to pay for the additional costs of the upgrade.

NMH Support

You will need to contact your providers of support directly, and their email address and phone number should be on the approval letter. They will need a copy of your DSA approval, and may ask for a copy of the needs assessment report.

Travel costs

You might need to pay a contribution to the travel costs, or you may have to pay the full cost and reclaim some or all of it back. This should be specified in your DSA approval letter.

Reimbursements

If you have been agreed reimbursements such as printing or photocopying costs, you will normally need to purchase this and submit the receipt to your DSA provider for reimbursement. It is best to reclaim as soon as possible in case there are issues, and often you cannot claim any costs from a different academic year.

 

Additional Questions

Do I need to apply for DSA each year?

If you are:

  • an undergraduate student
  • studying full time
  • with a student loan

You do not need to reapply for DSA, and any support provided yearly is normally reset at the start of the academic year to the full amount.

If you’re not a full time undergraduate with a loan, you will most likely need to reapply each year. However, you will not need to submit your evidence, and do not need to attend a needs assessment appointment again.

I have additional evidence of a new disability, can I get support?

Yes. If you are already receiving support through DSA, you can normally send additional evidence to your funding body without an application form, and once accepted they might ask you to attend a Review of Needs Assessment to double check that the current support is suitable, and to possibly add additional support.

I have finished university, do I need to return anything?

If you have completed your course, then UK DSA funding bodies normally allow you to keep your equipment and software. Other funding bodies have different requirements and so it is best to double check.

If you finish your course early, you may be asked to return equipment and so please check with your DSA funding body beforehand.