Disabled students' allowances (DSAs) help pay for extra costs students may have to pay when studying in higher education, as a direct result of their disability or specific learning difficulty.
The allowances outlined below are intended to assist students with disabilities to benefit as fully as possible from their course of higher education.
These allowances can help with the cost of a non-medical personal helper, items of specialist equipment, travel and other course-related costs.
These allowances are not means-tested.
Types of disabled students' allowance
Special equipment allowance
This allowance covers major items of equipment that are necessary to enable a disabled student to benefit fully from the course.
It is payable at any time during the course, by one or more instalments, provided that the aggregated total of the payments does not exceed the maximum prescribed limit for the course.
If it is more economical, items of equipment should be leased rather than purchased, especially if the claim is made during the latter stages of the course.
Non-medical personal helper's allowance
This allowance reimburses students, within a maximum limit, for expenditure on personal helpers such as readers, lip speakers, note takers and non-medical carers necessary for the student to benefit fully from the course.
The authority must be satisfied that the expenses are in respect of the student's disability, and arise as a direct consequence of attendance on the course.
The provision of these allowances does not remove the duty of local social services to provide assistance towards personal care costs. This would have been incurred irrespective of a student's attendance on a course.
General disability allowance
This allowance has a maximum limit and provides for supplementary payments for disability related expenditure incurred because of attendance on the course.
The allowance may be used for miscellaneous expenditure not covered by the specific allowances and to supplement expenditure on non-medical helpers and/or special equipment.
Travel expenses
Reimbursement of travel expenses may also be claimed if you incur additional expenditure because of your disability. You will be asked to show how your disability incurs additional cost and to provide medical evidence if necessary.
Costs covered by a disabled students' allowance
Payment can be considered only for costs arising from attendance on a higher education course and from the disability - not for expenditure which would have been incurred irrespective of whether or not you were a student.
These allowances are intended to assist individual students and not to defray the running and pastoral costs of colleges. You should explain this to your college when your requirements are discussed.
Further information
You can find further information and application forms on the Student Finance Direct website, by following the link on the right.
How to apply
Students wishing to apply for the Disabled Students’ Allowances can do so at any stage of their higher education course and should contact the Lewisham Student Support Team for further advice. Our contact details are below.