The Study Needs Assessment is an important part of the process of claiming Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) and getting support at university. This activity will explain what the Study Needs Assessment is, how it works and how to prepare for your appointment.

The Study Needs Assessment tends to be a structured but fairly informal one-to-one discussion with an Independent Study Needs Assessor which will usually last between 1.5 and 2 hours. The Study Needs Assessor will have specific questions they need to ask, but it will feel like a chat, rather than an interrogation. The needs assessment is not a test – despite what the name may imply. It is a simply an opportunity to assess your needs and make recommendations for your DSA entitlement.

You will usually have a choice to meet in-person, online, or over the phone. It is now very common to have your needs assessment through an online platform like Microsoft Teams. However, your needs assessment centre must still offer the option to have an in-person assessment if you’d prefer this. You’ll be able to express a preference when you book your needs assessment, which you can usually do by filling in an online form, emailing, or by phone.

The Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) can be invaluable for students even if they have not previously received study support in the past. Once students have applied for DSA, if they are eligible for funding, they will be invited to book the Needs Assessment. The Study Needs Assessment is not just an essential part of that process, but an opportunity to talk to somebody in depth about:

• the positive and negative aspects of studying in the past
• the positive and negative aspects of any support you have received in the past at home/school/college
• any worries you might have about going to uni
• what you’re excited about and think you will do well at
• what you think might help you achieve success at university (e.g. assistive technology and human support such as a mentor, which the DSA might be able to offer you!)

You will also get to learn a bit more about the kind of help that is available to you – many students don’t really know much about this and are amazed to find out what is out there and how it may work for them.

You don’t need to formally prepare for your needs assessment. However, you might find it useful to think about some of these questions in advance.

1. How do you feel about making notes in lectures, where most of what is said does not end up on a whiteboard or the PowerPoint slides? It is also not possible to write down every word that is said.
2. Would being able to record lectures help you?
3. How do you make and organise your notes when reading or revising?
4. Do you enjoy going to new places?
5. Do you find new places easily?
6. Does it help to have someone with you when you go somewhere for the first time?
7. What are you most excited about when it comes to your course?
8. What would you like to know more about or might need support to do before you get excited?
9. How do you feel about group work?
10. How do you manage your free time?
11. Are you always on time for appointments without help from someone else?
12. Do you like to be in busy, lively places or quiet places?
13. How do you find out about new topics?
14. Do you find it easy to organise your ideas and structure them in writing?
15. Do you find academic writing easy? How about spelling, punctuation and grammar?
16. Would you like somebody to talk to about your autism who has a good understanding of both autism and university?
17. Do you have any other specific learning differences that may be helpful to discuss/include in your application like dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD?
18. Do you have any mental health conditions, such as depression and/or anxiety that may be helpful to discuss/include in your application?
19. Does it help you to read information from the internet if you can print it out?
20. Who supported you with your work at school and what did they do that was helpful?
21. What helps you when you’re stressed? Music, exercise, art, reading, playing games, talking to others?
22. Did you use any tools like visual schedules, social stories, coloured overlays, coloured paper or alarms to help you at school or college?
23. How do you feel about talking to people about your autism, including tutors and other students?

Following an application, if you are eligible to receive Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), you will receive a letter inviting you to book a Study Needs Assessment. As a reminder, this is free and you do not need to pay for this.

If you are applying for the DSA after February 2024, your needs assessment will be conducted wither by a company called Study Tech, or by Capita. Which company you are assigned depends on the address you use when you apply for DSA. Southampton is served by Study Tech, but you might be allocated to Capita if you apply in advance and your home address is in the East of England, the Midlands, London, Wales, or Northern Ireland. You don’t need to worry about this – it is all automatic!

StudyTech: Needs Assessment FAQs

Disabled Students Allowance | DSA Capita

If you have any queries about booking your Study Needs Assessment, the Student Disability and Inclusion Team can support you with every step of the DSA Process. Learn more about the DSA support our team offer.

Originally published by Autism&Uni on 27th August 2015.

Updates made by Beth Lawson and Gemma Turner, University of Southampton (April 2024).