Disabled Students’ Allowances - 2020 to 2021

Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) are available if you have a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition, Autism spectrum disorder or specific learning difficulty. DSAs are grants to help pay the essential extra costs you may have as a direct result of your disability. You must meet the definition of a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

Who can get DSAs?

You can get DSAs if your condition affects your ability to study and you can provide evidence of this and you’re:

• studying an eligible full-time or part-time undergraduate course (for example, a degree or HND-level course) including distance-learning courses
• studying an eligible full-time or part-time postgraduate course (which you need a degree or equivalent qualification to get onto), including distance learning courses

How much can you get?

The amount of DSAs you get isn’t based on your household income. It’s based on your individual needs and your course intensity.

The following table shows the types of help available and the maximum amounts available.

How is it paid?

DSAs will either be paid directly to you or to any equipment or service suppliers.

Anything else you should know?

You must be studying at a course intensity of at least 25% to qualify for DSAs.

It can take approximately 14 weeks to process an application for DSAs so apply as soon as you can.

There’s no age limit on getting DSAs.

How to apply

To apply you'll need to fill in a paper application form. You can download this from our Form finder

If you qualify for DSAs we will send you a letter to let you know. You'll then need to arrange a needs assessment

• Find a DSA Assessment Centre

DSA guide

For more information, download the Disabled Students’ Allowances guide:

• Extra help – Disabled Students’ Allowances 2020 to 2021 (1,772KB)
• Extra help – Disabled Students’ Allowances 2019 to 2020 (674KB)

Adult Dependants’ Grant

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