Students ‘may drop out’ if disability support grants cut back

Proposed changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) could “widen the attainment gap” in higher education and force students to drop out of university, campaigners fear.

The British Assistive Technology Association (BATA) has condemned a move to tighten access to study-related support for those with long-term illness, disability, or mental health problems.

More than 9,000 people have signed a petition launched by the organisation demanding continued access to specialist equipment, software, and non-medical help provided via the DSA.

“For many students, this support is the difference between staying in education and dropping out entirely,” the petition reads.

It comes as a DfE consultation, running until 18 June, invited responses to proposals that would see the DSA provide funding only in “exceptional” circumstances.

However, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent by the co-founder of assistive technology company CareScribe, Chris Purcell, shows the department “does not hold any drafts or finalised documents defining the criteria for ‘exceptional circumstances’”.

BATA has published two pieces of FOI correspondence, shared between representatives connected to its campaign and the DfE in April and May, showing the government department “has not undertaken, commissioned, or otherwise produced” any formal or informal assessments of how free-to-use technology could assist disabled students.

Nicole Michael, BATA vice chair, told Times Higher Education the government’s proposals fundamentally misunderstood the “niche requirements” of each individual DSA recipient.

“Two different software systems could really impact how students go through their university career,” Michael said, on the question of specialist versus free-to-use assistive technology, adding: “Everyone is just really trying to ensure future students don’t face a detrimental impact as they go through university and into the workplace.”

In a statement Sam Bank, a student at Edge Hill University, said: “Living with a severe visual impairment means I already face significant barriers to learning compared to my peers, particularly when it comes to keeping up in lectures, reading dense academic texts and writing essays.”

“These proposals work on the dangerous presumption that free, generic software can match the accuracy, customisation and seamless integration of paid, specialist products,” Bank continued. “They don’t.”

The DfE’s position is that many technologies once considered specialist are now increasingly mainstream, as free-to-access assistive software, like programmes that convert text into speech, are now commonly available.

Its consultation, which invites responses from universities, current and prospective students, disability charities and others, outlines plans to “move to a policy position where the assumption is that assistive software is readily available to the student and will therefore only be funded where there is an additional disability-related need for it that cannot be met by any other software available to the student free of charge”.

According to the department, doing so will allow it to “better support students in other ways, where there are not free alternatives to meet their needs”.

The DSA, which provided £203 million to more than 88,000 students in the 2023/24 academic year, is set to offer eligible undergraduate and postgraduate students up to £27,783 each in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 year.

Since 2016-17, the grant has been paid by the government to higher education providers, rather than being administered centrally.

The DfE was contacted for comment.

georgia.luckhurst@timeshighereducation.com