Help if you're a student with a learning difficulty, health problem or disability

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How to apply

How you apply for Disabled Students鈥� Allowance (DSA) depends on whether you鈥檙e studying full-time or part-time.

Full-time undergraduate students

If you鈥檙e applying for other types of student finance, you only need to apply for DSA once. Otherwise, you鈥檒l need to apply each year.

If you鈥檝e already applied for student finance

Sign in to your student finance account to start your DSA application.

The application for DSA should be on your 鈥榯o-do list鈥� if you chose DSA in your application for other support. If it is not, select 鈥榗hange your circumstances鈥� to apply.

If you do not have an online account because you applied for student finance by post, fill in a DSA slim form:

If you have not applied for student finance

You can apply for DSA when you apply for student finance online.

If you do not need student finance, you can fill in a DSA1 form to apply just for DSA:

You cannot apply for student finance online once you鈥檝e applied for DSA.

Postgraduate students and part-time undergraduate students

Fill in a DSA1 form to apply for DSA for the 2024 to 2025 academic year. You鈥檒l need to apply for DSA each year.

If you鈥檙e already getting DSA

Fill in a DSA expenses claim form to claim back your expenses:

How long it takes

You鈥檒l get confirmation of whether your application is successful within 6 weeks.

It can take up to 14 weeks to get your DSA support in place as this is done separately.

You can check current application processing times to find out when you can expect to get an update on your application.