So you’ve applied for the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Congrats! You’re one step closer to getting up to £27,000 worth of support at university, which can make a huge difference to your ability to study and your quality of life, especially if you’re a student with a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difference like Dyslexia, ADHD, or Autism. The next key step in the process is your DSA Needs Assessment, which is simply a friendly meeting with an Assessor to chat about the kind of support and equipment that could help you thrive in your studies.
Since Tailo is available through the DSA and has so many benefits for neurodivergent and disabled students, we wanted to help students understand what a DSA Assessment is, and how to get the best tools and resources in place for their studies. To help take the mystery out of it, we’ve gathered top tips from students who’ve already had their DSA Needs Assessment, so you can go in feeling informed, confident, and ready to get the support you deserve!
Top Tips from Students for your DSA Needs Assessment
“Keep all of your files in one place”
“It’s best to keep all of your files in one place – whether on your PC or physically in a file, as it makes things a lot less stressful when being asked about medical evidence, previous assessments, etc. I’d also advise being proactive about checking if things are going smoothly as they should be, as it’s very easy to be delayed due to miscommunication/lack of communication.”
Helena Mok, Student with Autism, ADHD and Chronic Illness
How Tailo helps: Helena mentions the importance of keeping everything organised before your DSA assessment. Tailo’s Projects feature does exactly this for your academic reading: grouping documents, notes, and sources by module or assignment so nothing gets lost.
“Prepare to advocate for yourself”
“Most often, assessors are eager to provide you with as much support as possible. However, it is good to prepare to advocate for yourself. The best way to do that is by preparing a list of what you struggle with and might benefit from. I would strongly encourage you to bring up what your ‘friends’ (even if it’s someone you have seen on TikTok) have benefited from. The assessors will not know everything that’s out there.”
Deniz Uyanik, Graduate with ADHD
How Tailo helps: Deniz encourages students to mention tools they have heard about from peers. If you have ADHD, Tailo’s AI summaries, estimated reading times, and structured organisation tools are all worth raising in your DSA needs assessment questions.
“Make a list beforehand of things you find challenging in your studies”
“My top tip would be to make a list beforehand of things you might find challenging currently when in education/home/anything. For me, I would really struggle to read on screens for big chunks of text like reading chapters of a book. This meant that in my Needs Assessment I was able to explain why I would need a printer. Also, if it is online, make sure you’re connected to the right wifi, haha.”
Robyn Bradbury, Autistic Student
How Tailo helps: Robyn struggled with reading large blocks of on-screen text – a challenge Tailo is specifically built around. Adjustable fonts, spacing, and background colour reduce visual strain, while Read Aloud lets you listen to academic content rather than read it. Both are worth mentioning in your DSA assessment if on-screen reading is difficult for you.
How to Prepare for DSA Assessment
To prepare for DSA assessment day, it helps to go in with a clear picture of your challenges and the tools that might help address them. A few practical steps:
- Write a list of the specific things you find difficult in your studies, such as reading, concentration, organisation, and time management
- Research assistive tools in advance so you can mention them by name. If Tailo sounds useful, bring it up
- Gather your medical evidence and any previous diagnostic reports in one place beforehand
- Think through the DSA assessment questions you are likely to be asked: what are your challenges? What support have you had before? What would help most?
- Check whether your assessment is in person or online, and test your connection or plan your route in advance
Want to learn more about the DSA, or find out if you’re eligible?
If you’re keen to know more about the DSA process, what happens in your DSA Needs Assessment, and the next steps once you have secured your support, then it’s time to join This Student Needs. TSN is our student community where we help disabled students advocate for themselves and get the support they deserve through Disabled Students’ Allowance.
Through This Student Needs we’ve created a DSA Guide that takes you step-by-step through the process of applying for DSA. In our guide we answer any common questions, making the application easier to understand and most importantly, more accessible.
Jump into the This Student Needs’ DSA Guide to find out more.
