Three allowances make up the DSA. These are:
- the basic allowance;
- an allowance for large items of equipment ; and
- an allowance for non-medical personal help .
DSA is not income assessed.
The basic allowance
This is a yearly allowance. You may claim up to £1,680 during the academic year for items like tapes, braille paper, extra photocopying charges, other small items of equipment and so on. You may also claim for the extra cost of medically-certified special dietary needs over and above your normal costs. You must give an estimate of the additional weekly costs you incur during term time.
You can also use any unspent basic allowance to top up the other two allowances if necessary.
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An allowance for large items of equipment
The amount you can claim is set at the maximum for the academic year in which you make your first application. If you are applying for this allowance for the first time in 2008-2009 or later, you may claim up to £5,030 over the whole period of your programme of study. It will cover the cost of equipment such as a personal computer, a braille printer or note-taker, a portable loop or a radio aid, or close circuit television. If the equipment you need costs more than the maximum, you may use any unspent basic allowance to make up the difference. However, you cannot later use the basic allowance to buy other large items of equipment.
As long as you do not go over the maximum for your course, you may also use the allowances for basic or large items of equipment to pay for:
- approved repairs, modification or updating;
- insurance or extended warranty costs arising from owning the equipment; or
- initial training in how to use the equipment or software.
- In certain circumstances, we may ask you to lease rather than buy a major item of equipment if this would be more economical or beneficial (for example, if you only need equipment for a short period of time or if you are near the end of your course).
We will take into account any equipment you already own or have access to before we decide what support you can get from this allowance.
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Non-medical personal help
This is a yearly allowance for course-related personal help, for example:
- readers for people with sight difficulties;
- sign language interpreters;
- lip speakers;
- note-takers; or
- helpers for people in wheelchairs.
You can get up to £20,000 during one academic year. If your non-medical personal help costs more than the maximum for your course for that year, you may also use any unspent basic allowance. We cannot pay the cost of private tuition out of DSA. DSA is not intended to meet the costs of extra academic tuition or support in the subject your are studying. Institutions may meet these costs as part of providing the course.
If you need advice about equipment or other support, the disability adviser at your institution may be able to help you. Organisations like the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) and the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) can make assessments. If you are still not sure about the equipment and help you need, we will pay for you to have a full needs assessment done by a recognised access centre, organisation or institution that has the necessary qualified staff to carry out the needs assessments.
If you need a helper, you may find the publication 'Employing Support Workers in Higher Education' helpful in deciding who to use and how to arrange this.