Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of applicants for disabled students’ allowance (DSA) used supporting notes from (a) medical professionals connected to and (b) medical professionals not connected to their higher education institution to back up their application; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of people who claim DSA without the knowledge of their higher education institution.

Joseph Johnson

Students wishing to apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) need to provide evidence of their disability to Student Finance England (SFE) in order to demonstrate their eligibility. Depending on their disability, this needs to come from a medical doctor or other suitably qualified professional. Information about whether this evidence is provided by someone connected to the students’ HE provider is not held centrally.

Students are encouraged to speak to their institution’s disability adviser, to ensure they are receiving all the help that is available to them. However, students do not need to disclose their disability to their HE provider in order to apply for DSAs.

All disabled higher education students who are eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances are referred to an independent assessment centre so as to identify the type and level of support they require.

Students are free to choose which assessment centre they wish to attend. They can find a centre via the DSAs Quality Assurance Group’s website:

http://www.dsa-qag.org.uk/students/find-an-assessment-centre

“