Policy Position: Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) England and Wales

February 2026 

Introduction 

Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) supports disabled students in higher education by funding disability-related study costs, including needs assessments, assistive technology, non-medical help and training.

In February 2024, the Student Loans Company (SLC) introduced reforms to the delivery of needs assessments, assistive technology and assistive technology training in England and Wales. The reforms were intended to simplify the system, improve consistency and increase accountability.

Over two years on, evidence from blind and partially sighted students contacting Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) indicates the reforms have not fully met their aims and have exposed wider problems across the whole DSA process. Students report delays, inappropriate assessments, equipment not matching need, and support not being delivered. Access to support is often dependent on persistence and self-advocacy.

The 2024 delivery arrangements aimed to: 

• Improve the consistency of the student experience.
• Enhance quality assurance and oversight.
• Improve value for money.
• Streamline provision of assistive technology and training.

Student experience and sector feedback indicate these aims are still not being met.

Delays and Communication 

As of February 2026, DSA processing times have improved since the first year of the reforms. However, students still report waiting months for email responses and significant delays before assessments or equipment delivery.

 TPT supported a Master’s student who applied for DSA before starting their course but, due to system booking failures and delays, was offered a needs assessment over six months into their studies, leaving them without support for a substantial portion of the academic year.

Needs Assessments and Specialist Knowledge 

Students frequently report assessors lacking knowledge of vision impairment, resulting in inappropriate recommendations and missed support.

One student received recommendations suitable for specific learning difficulties rather than visual impairment and had to request appropriate assistive technology independently. Another ended an assessment early after requests for specialist equipment were dismissed and had to request reassessment with a specialist VI assessor.  

Outcomes often depend on students’ confidence and advocacy skills, disadvantaging those new to higher education.

Access To the Right Tech  

Students report recommended technology equipment being refused or replaced with unsuitable alternatives.

A braille-using student was initially awarded a lower-cost device instead of the BrailleNote and Brailliant recommended in their needs assessment, and funding for a braille embosser was refused until escalation shortly before term started. Another student requesting a refreshable braille display was told it could not be supplied because it was not on the provider’s list. These cases suggest procurement arrangements may be overriding individual need.

Students report:

• Trainers unfamiliar with specialist equipment.
• Software removed without consultation.
• Insufficient training time.
• Remote-only support despite accessibility barriers. 
• Delays setting up equipment.

A student received training from a trainer unfamiliar vision impairment. Another had software removed during training and was expected to learn complex screen-reader software in only a few sessions, leaving them unprepared for study. Others have been provided with inaccessible equipment.

Non-medical Help 

The system is also failing to deliver non-medical help reliably. There are significant workforce shortages and a lack of quality assurance of this vital provision. Sighted guides and mobility trainers are in notable short supply, leaving students without this support for weeks at a time, often unable to access learning without it.  

Feedback from Specialist Support Professionals for the Vision Impaired (SSPVIs), who provide non-medical help funded through DSA, reinforces these concerns. SSPVIs report significant inconsistencies in the number of support hours awarded to students with similar levels of vision impairment, suggesting needs assessments are not reliably identifying support requirements. Some students with limited functional vision receive minimal support, while others are awarded substantially more hours despite lower levels of need. Practitioners also describe spending a considerable proportion of their role advocating for adjustments that students should already be receiving, including helping students communicate with universities and challenge barriers to access. This indicates that the DSA process is not consistently recognising the level of support required and is relying on post-assessment intervention to make provision effective.

Our Position 

The DSA process is not currently delivering timely or appropriate support for blind and partially sighted students. 

Although the 2024 reforms introduced increased monitoring and contractual accountability, student experience shows quality assurance is focused on process compliance rather than educational access, and completely disregards non-medical help. Some students report considering deferring or suspending their studies. Access to education should not depend on navigating a complex administrative system.

What we are calling for: 

We call on the Student Loans Company to: 

1. Introduce outcome-focused quality assurance, covering needs assessment and measuring impact on access to learning.
2. Guarantee Needs Assessors and Technology Trainers with vision impairment expertise.
3. Deliver on better service standards for communication, assessment and delivery times.
4. Improve delivery and accountability for non-medical help provision.

We also call on the Department for Education to review wider operational issues within DSA, including awareness and effectiveness of support provision.

Further Support 

Our Education Information Advice and Guidance Service assists blind and partially sighted students navigating the DSA process. We encourage students facing challenges to contact us. 

We continue to monitor, advocate for improvements, and support the development of solutions.

Further information: Student Loans Company’s practitioner webpage.

For further information please contact: EducationPolicy@pocklington.org.uk