What are Disabled Students' Allowances?

Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs) are grants to help pay the extra essential costs you may have as a direct result of your disability, including a long-term health condition, mental-health condition, or specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. You don't have to pay these back.

What are they for?

DSAs can help cover essential extra costs you might have during your course as a direct result of your disability, such as: human support, travel costs, assistive technology and training in how to use the technology effectively.

DSAs don't depend on household income - what you can get depends on your individual needs.

Applying for DSAs in three easy steps!

You’ll be asked if you want to apply for DSAs when you’re applying for your main student finance.

Once you’ve applied for your main student finance you’ll be able to apply for DSAs online. After you’ve submitted your application for DSAs you’ll be told what evidence you need to send to support your application.

If you only want to apply for DSAs you need to complete a DSA1 application form which you’ll be able to download from www.gov.uk/student-finance-forms once the service opens.

Apply and send your evidence early as the application process for DSAs can take around 14 weeks.

Once you've applied for DSAs we may ask you to arrange an appointment with an Independent Needs Assessor to find out exactly what equipment and support you need. If we ask you to do this, you should book this assessment as soon as possible. To find your nearest approved Study Needs Assessment centre go to DSAs Quality Assurance Group website.

We'll confirm what specialist equipment and other support DSAs can pay for.

We'll also give instructions for ordering any specialist equipment or arranging other support.