New campaign promoting Disabled Students Allowance

Wed,16 October 2013
News Equality & Rights

National disability charities, AbilityNet and RNIB have launched a campaign urging students to claim the Disabled Students allowance

If you have a disability or specific learning difficulty and are studying in higher education, you may be eligible for Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs). These allowances cover extra disability-related costs or expenses you have while studying.

There are four allowances to cover different areas of need.

  • Specialist equipment allowance
  • Non-medical helper’s allowance
  • General and other expenditure allowance
  • Travel costs.

DSAs are not paid in set amounts because they depend on what you need. Payments cover the cost of specific items of equipment, specific support worker costs, and so on. Apart from travel, there are maximum amounts for each allowance.

DSAs are not intended to pay for disability-related costs that you would have whether you were a student or not, such as personal care support or study costs that every student might have.

You can find out more about DSAs from our Factsheet F18 - applying for disabled students’ allowances.

You can find out more about the campaign at http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2013/10/17/uk-national-charities-launch-campaign-for-disabled-students