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Changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA)

28 Jul 2016

The Government have announced changes to the grant that some disabled students receive to fund their additional disability-related support

Disabled students who will be affected by these changes are those funded by Student Finance England (SFE), Student finance Wales (SFW)  and the NHS Student Bursaries Unit (NHS).  These changes are intended to re-balance disabled students’ funding by moving away from individual DSA grants to institutionally funded support. The aim is for DSA funding to be at the top of an apex of support, underpinned by an inclusive environment and, where full inclusivity is not possible, institutional reasonable adjustments.      

Not all disabled students will be affected by these changes, which apply only to new students who will be applying for DSA from the academic year 2016-17 onwards, and to those funded by the  SFE, SFW and NHS.  (Research Council UK (RCUK) has also introduced minor changes.)  Other funding bodies have not announced any changes to their funding procedures. An SFE/NHS exceptional case process has been set up and students who are not satisfied with the support offered to them should contact the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS).

What are the changes?

  1. Students funded by SFE, SFW, NHS and RCUK will have to contribute towards the cost of any computer equipment received via DSA which is provided to run assistive software.
  2. For students funded by SFE, SFW and NHS only, some of the support worker provision will no longer be provided via DSA.  This includes general support worker roles, note-taking support, library support assistants, laboratory or workshop support, readers, scribes, study assistants and specialist transcription services.
  3. Additional disability-related costs for accommodation can no longer be funded via DSA.

What does the Law say?

Under the 2010 Equality Act, universities’ responsibilities towards disabled students remain unchanged.  This includes making reasonable adjustments, ensuring disabled students are not discriminated against, and providing equality opportunities for study.   Universities cannot ask disabled students to contribute to the cost of their support, and if a reasonable adjustment can be made, then it has to be made.

How is The University of Manchester responding?

Any disabled students who need support or reasonable adjustments should be referred to the University’s Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS).  DASS will assess the student’s support requirements, put in place appropriate support and, when appropriate, refer students for a DSA assessment.  DASS will also inform Schools about students’ reasonable adjustments by producing University Support Plans (USPs) via School Disability Coordinators.

DASS advisers will assess the support needs of students and will make recommendations for support to be delivered.  This will include offering a menu of specialist support options, including the use of apps and assistive software, specialist technology training and support delivered on a one-to-one or group basis via DASS. Students who are assessed as requiring a University support worker will have this provided via DASS. DASS advisers will also facilitate any approved DSA support.

Additionally, from September 2016, lectures scheduled to be attended by students who are registered with DASS and who have a specific recommendation for recording lectures, will be automatically recorded by the Podcasting Service.

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