The Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is a non-repayable government grant to help cover costs related to a student’s studies, which they may have as a direct result of a disability. 

Students with a disability (such as Autism), long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difference (such as Dyslexia), may be eligible to apply for additional funding through the DSA.  Supporting evidence is required to apply for DSA.    

NB: We recognise that not everyone who has an autistic spectrum condition would use the word ‘disabled’ about themselves. This includes a lot of the students the Autism & Uni project team spoke to in their surveys. However, Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) is the main way to access support for your study needs at the start of your course and beyond, so it is important to know all about it. 

Most autistic students who have been officially diagnosed with an autistic spectrum condition, and are studying on an eligible course, are entitled to DSA – it is not related to any other benefits (even DLA or PIP) or means-tested. Students awaiting an autism assessment may be eligible to DSA if they obtain evidence of a working diagnosis (NB: a referral letter would not be accepted as evidence by the DSA). 

To apply for the DSA, submit an application to the funding body you would be eligible to claim student finance from, e.g. Student Finance England. If you are unsure where to apply or which form to complete, you can contact the Student Disability and Inclusion Team for guidance. Further information can also be found on the Disability Rights UK website and the Gov.uk website. 

DSA can help with the cost of any additional support you might require whilst studying, such as: 

• Specialist one-to-one (non-medical) help, such as mentoring, study skills, notetaker support, specialist support professional for students with sensory impairments. 

• Specialist equipment, such as assistive technology (AT), software, ergonomic equipment. 

• General allowance(s), such as printing, travel.       

DSA won’t cover costs that all students would have to pay for, like buying textbooks or standard laptops or tickets for the bus to and from university. 

DSA is not paid directly to the student. Instead, the funding pays the providers of the equipment and support directly. 

Autistic students who claim DSA are less likely to drop out of university and more likely to achieve their full potential. 

Whether or not you received, or felt you needed support during school or college, university life is very different from the type of study you have been used to and getting the right support in place can make your life a lot easier. DSA is intended to level the playing field for students who have disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health conditions, autism and specific learning difficulties like dyslexia and ADHD. 

Students in the Autism&Uni surveys who told the university about their autism and got support early in their course were more likely to enjoy their time at uni and graduate with good grades than those who didn’t get any support. 

The timing of the support is important too – students who had all their support in place before the end of the first semester had a much better experience than those students who did not access support. This means applying for DSA as early as you can is a very good idea – it doesn’t matter if the university you end up going to changes. 

You can also choose to access support at any point throughout your studies, even if you haven’t previously told the university about your autism, or you receive a diagnosis of autism following commencement of your studies. 

Your support can also be reviewed and amended at any time if you find your needs have changed during your course or the support you have in place is not really working for you. The Student Disability and Inclusion team at the Student Hub is available for you to contact at any point. 

To apply for the DSA, submit an application to the funding body you would be eligible to claim student finance from, e.g. Student Finance England. If you are unsure where to apply or which form to complete, you can contact the Student Disability and Inclusion Team for guidance. Further information can also be found on the Disability Rights UK website and the Gov.uk website. 

Once your application has been approved you will receive a DSA1 letter advising you to book a Study Needs Assessment. 

Booking your Study Needs Assessment 

The Study Needs Assessment is an essential part of the process of applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance.  

Your funding body will advise you via email when your application for DSA has been approved and will tell you to book a Study Needs Assessment. A Needs Assessment Centre will contact you for arrangements, including completing a pre-assessment questionnaire. You will need to provide your assessor with a copy of the evidence accepted by the DSA and your DSA1 letter prior to your assessment. 

The Study Needs Assessment tends to be a structured, but fairly informal, one-to-one discussion with a Study Needs Assessor which will usually last about 2 hours. You won’t be tested, but the Study Needs Assessor will have specific questions they need to ask in order to explore your support needs. 

The Study Needs Assessment is 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 that success 

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. 

• 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. 

• Would being able to record lectures help you? 

• How do you make and organise your notes when reading or revising? 

• Do you enjoy going to new places? 

• Do you find new places easily? 

• Does it help to have someone with you when you go somewhere for the first time? 

• What are you most excited about when it comes to your course? 

• What would you like to know more about or might need support to do before you get excited? 

• How do you feel about group work? 

• How do you manage your free time? 

• Are you always on time for appointments without help from someone else? 

• Do you like to be in busy, lively places or quiet places? 

• How do you find out about new topics? 

• Do you find it easy to organise your ideas and structure them in writing? 

• Do you find academic writing easy? How about spelling, punctuation and grammar? 

• Would you like somebody to talk to about your autism who has a good understanding of both autism and university? 

• Do you have any other conditions like dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD? 

• Does it help you to read information from the internet if you can print it out? 

• Who supported you with your work at school and what did they do that was helpful? 

• What helps you when you’re stressed? Music, exercise, art, reading, playing games, talking to others? 

• Did you use any tools like visual schedules, social stories, coloured overlays, coloured paper or alarms to help you at school or college? 

• How do you feel about talking to people about your autism, including tutors and other students? 

Support for accessing and applying for DSA: 

The Student Disability and Inclusion Team run sessions to help current students access the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) and answer questions relating to the DSA: 

• 15-minute DSA chats: Bookable via MS Bookings. 

• Weekly drop-in session on Wednesdays from 2pm to 3pm in The Student Hub (Building 37), Highfield Campus (no booking required). (Excluding University closure). 

• 1-hour session: Offering support for more complex enquiries and more time to talk things through. If you’d like to arrange a bespoke 1-hour session, please contact the Student Disability and Inclusion Team via studenthub@soton.ac.uk.  

Further information about the DSA process from the Student Disability and Inclusion: Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) (sharepoint.com) 

Originally Published by Autism&Uni on the 27th August 2015.

Updates made by Lizzie Nash (University of Southampton, March 2025).