Disabled Students' Allowance
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is extra support on top of your other student finance and can be used to pay for study-related costs such as equipment, non-medical help, travel and photocopying and printing.
You can apply for DSA to cover some of the extra costs you have because of a mental health condition, long term illness or any other disability.
You can get help with the costs of:
- specialist equipment, for example a laptop if you need one because of your disability
- non-medical helpers, for example a person such as a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter or specialist note-taker
- extra travel costs, to attend your course or placement because of your disability
- other disability-related costs of studying, for example having to print additional copies of documents for proof-reading
What's available
How much support you can get and what you can spend it on depends on your individual needs, not your household income.
You do not need to pay Disabled Students’ Allowance back.
Full-time and part-time undergraduate, and postgraduate students can get up to:
- £33,460 for the 2024 to 2025 academic year
- £33,146 for the 2023 to 2024 academic year
This can be used to cover the costs of specialist equipment, a non-medical helper and more general costs you may have.
There’s also a travel allowance available to cover any study related travel costs you may have due to your disability.
Who qualifies
You can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance if you have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 that affects your ability to study, such as a:
- specific learning difficulty, for example dyslexia or ADHD
- mental health condition, for example anxiety or depression
- physical disability, for example if you have to use crutches, a wheelchair or a special keyboard
- sensory disability, for example if you’re visually impaired, deaf or have a hearing impairment
- long-term health condition, for example cancer, chronic heart disease or HIV
You must also meet the standard student finance eligibility requirements (for example, the residency requirements and eligible student categories) to apply for Disabled Students’ Allowance. You can also check with your uni or college’s student finance advisors to discuss if your course qualifies for Disabled Students’ Allowance.
How to apply
You’ll need to send us an application form:
- DSA application form – 2024 to 2025 (Download PDF 788KB, opens in a new tab)
- DSA application form – 2023 to 2024 (Download PDF 664KB, opens in a new tab)
There's a guide to help you complete the form and explain what evidence you need to send:
- DSA application notes – 2024 to 2025 (Download PDF 277KB, opens in a new tab)
- DSA application notes – 2023 to 2024 (Download PDF 266KB, opens in a new tab)
You’ll need to reapply for DSA each year. You won’t normally need to send us more evidence unless your needs have changed.
Proving your disability
Check your online account or the application form to see what evidence you need to send us. You can also submit a disability evidence form:
- Disability evidence form – 2024 to 2025 (Download PDF 691KB, opens in a new tab)
- Disability evidence form – 2023 to 2024 (Download PDF 191KB, opens in a new tab)
You can email your evidence or form to our DSA team. Your evidence can also be sent by post.
Your needs assessment
Your needs assessment is an informal meeting with a skilled assessor who will recommend support and equipment to help you during your studies.
After your DSA application has been approved, we’ll send you a letter with details of your supplier. If you give us permission, we’ll pass your details directly to one of our two suppliers: Capita or Study Tech. They’ll then be in touch to arrange your needs assessment.
Before you attend your needs assessment, your needs assessor may ask you to send some medical evidence for them to review prior to your appointment. You needs assessment can be in person or remote (over video call).
Your DSA will pay for the cost of the assessment.
After the assessment, you’ll get an assessment report to tell you what equipment and other support you can get for your course.
Getting your support
Most payments will be sent directly to your supplier if you’ve given us permission. You’ll only receive payments if you’ve been awarded funding for general allowances, or if you’ve not given consent to allow us to make payments on your behalf. If you’ve made payments directly to the supplier, you can claim the costs back.
You can only claim for costs that have been included in your DSA2 entitlement letter.
Use this form if you need to claim for costs you’ve already paid for: