Financial support for students with a disability
What is the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)?
Financial help is available to students with disabilities through the Disabled Students' Allowances (DSA).
How much you can get does not depend on your income or that of your family. Unlike a student loan, this assistance does not have to be repaid.
The allowance is intended to assist any student with a disability so they can benefit as fully as possible from their course.
DSAs are:
- intended to help with costs you incur while attending your course that are a direct result of your disability
- available to undergraduate and postgraduate students
- available to full and part-time students with disabilities, although part-time students must be studying at least 50% of a full-time course.
Applying for the DSA
You are not automatically entitled to the DSA. You will be asked whether you want to apply when you fill in your application for financial support (PN1 form). We will then send you an information pack.
You can make an application before you start your course or while you are studying.
Find out more about DSAs on the Directgov website.
What happens after you have applied?
We will ask you to provide evidence of your disability, such as:
- letter from your doctor about a medical condition
- report by an educational psychologist for a specific learning difficulty.
If we decide that you are eligible to receive the DSA, we will ask you to arrange an appointment at your nearest access centre for an assessment of your needs.
You should not arrange an assessment of your needs without first confirming with us (your local authority) that we agree for you to do so. We will send you a letter referring you for a needs assessment.
The access centre provides a written report explaining the equipment you need for your course as a direct result of your disability. The report explains the cost of the equipment and who can supply it. A copy will be given to us so that we can arrange payment through the Disabled Students' Allowance.
Sussex Regional Access Centre
If you live in East Sussex your nearest centre is the Sussex Regional Access Centre at:
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9QP
Tel: 01273 678497
