What Disabled Students’ Allowance is
Disabled Students’ Allowance is funding for students in higher education whose studies are affected by a disability, and that includes specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyscalculia. It is not means tested and it does not have to be paid back. It can pay for things like assistive software, equipment and specialist study skills support.
A lot of students who would qualify never apply, often because nobody told them it existed, or because they assumed they were coping well enough not to count.
What you need to apply
To apply on the grounds of dyslexia or dyscalculia, you need a diagnostic assessment report from a suitably qualified assessor. I have a current Assessment Practising Certificate, which is the standard DSA asks for, and they follow the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) guidelines that DSA reports have to meet.
You then apply to your student finance body. If you are eligible, you are invited to a separate meeting called a needs assessment, where someone works out with you what support would actually help with your course. That is a different thing from the diagnostic assessment I carry out, which is about establishing whether you have a specific learning difficulty in the first place.
If you already have a report
If you were assessed at school, it is worth checking that report before booking anything new. Some reports written for school purposes were never intended to meet the standard DSA needs, and others were. If you are not sure, mention it when we talk and I will tell you honestly whether you need another assessment.
Being assessed later than you expected
A good many students are assessed for the first time later than you might think. They coped at school, often by working far harder than anyone noticed, and only hit the wall when the reading load at university arrived. If that sounds like you, it does not mean you have done anything wrong, and it is certainly not too late.
Some of the most capable people I meet spent years quietly covering a difficulty that nobody had put a name to. Being assessed is often the first time they find out that the effort they were putting in was not normal, and that it was never a sign they were less able than everyone else.
What the day looks like
The assessment happens in person, in Trowbridge, which is within about half an hour of Bath, Bradford on Avon, Frome, Westbury, Warminster, Melksham, Devizes, Corsham and Chippenham. Plenty of people come much further, from the Midlands, London, the Home Counties and the South East, and from abroad. We look at reading, writing and spelling, and at underlying skills such as working memory and processing speed, with breaks whenever you want them. Sometimes we look at maths if that is needed too
I also want your own account of what studying is like for you: what takes longest, what you avoid, and what you have worked out for yourself along the way. That is part of the picture, and it often tells me as much as any test.
The report
You receive a full written report within two weeks. It says plainly whether your profile is consistent with a specific learning difficulty, what your strengths are, and what is likely to help, and I write it so that you can read it and recognise yourself in it rather than a list of things you find hard.
Assessment Practising Certificate, 26/APC05086 · AMBDA, 20/AMB04046 · AMBDA Dyscalculia, 23/AMD05008