What to expect from your Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) Needs Assessment
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-05)

When you apply for DSA, you'll be asked to attend a Needs Assessment to help us find out what support we can offer you to help complete your studies.

Your Needs Assessment – What you need to know

What is a Needs Assessment and why do you need one?

Before you can get DSA support (https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa), you need to have a Needs Assessment. It’s not a test, it’s a relaxed, informal meeting that helps us make sure you get the right support to succeed on your course. It’s a conversation about how your disability or health condition may affect your study and learning.

You can watch a video to learn more about what to expect from your Needs Assessment. There are two versions of the video available:

Watch the video with audio narration:

What to expect from your Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) Needs Assessment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcE7dYoQUJ8)

Watch the video with British Sign Language (BSL):

What to expect from your Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) Needs Assessment (BSL) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRspHyH5ru0)

When will your Needs Assessment take place?

After we’ve approved your DSA application, we’ll confirm which one of our providers will be carrying out your Needs Assessment: Study Tech (https://www.study.tech/dsa-information) or Capita (https://www.capita.com/dsa). Your provider (Study Tech or Capita) should offer you an appointment within 7 working days of first contacting you. You’ll be able to choose an appointment on a different date if it better suits your needs.

Where will your Needs Assessment take place?

You can choose whether your Needs Assessment takes place in-person or remotely (e.g. by video call). Your provider (Study Tech or Capita) will provide information to help you decide what option is best for you.

If you choose an in-person assessment, your provider will try their best to make sure the travel time and location of the appointment are convenient for you. If it’s not convenient, you can discuss alternative options with your Needs Assessment provider. If the Needs Assessment is in-person, it should be held in a private space, with accessible toilet facilities.

Who will you speak to at your Needs Assessment?

When you meet with your provider, you’ll talk to a trained specialist about the most appropriate support options for you. Your needs assessor is not a doctor; they’re a suitably experienced and skilled person who will be able to understand your disability and course related needs.

How long will your Needs Assessment take?

The meeting may last up to 2 hours, but this will depend on your specific needs.

What else you should know about your Needs Assessment

How to prepare for your Needs Assessment

We want to make sure you get the most out of your Needs Assessment, to help us do this please try your best to follow these steps:

Please arrive on time for your Needs Assessment, if you’re late then the needs assessor will have less time to find out what support you need. If you can’t make it, please call your provider at least 24 hours before the meeting to let them know.

Provide all the information your Needs Assessment provider asks for ahead of the meeting. You may also be asked about any technology or support you’ve benefited from previously, so have a think about anything that may have helped you from your time at school or in day-to-day life.

Please ask for additional support or help if you need it. It’s important that you feel comfortable and have everything you need for the meeting.

After your Needs Assessment

You’ll be able to contact your Needs Assessment provider with any questions or feedback by telephone or email between 9am and 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. Relay services (https://www.relayuk.bt.com) for customers who have specific disability related communication needs should also be available. They’ll try to respond to emails within 2 working days.

Our commitment to you

You will be treated with dignity and respect in relation to individual differences including: age, gender, sexuality, religion, culture and ethnicity, health and disability.

Your privacy will be respected, and any personal information you share will be kept confidential and secure. How your personal information will be processed, along with your rights is explained in our Personal Information Charter (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company/about/personal-information-charter).

How you can give feedback about your Needs Assessment

After your Needs Assessment, you’ll be sent a survey asking you about your experience. You don’t need to complete this but we’d really appreciate any useful, constructive feedback you have for SLC and your Needs Assessment provider. This will help us make improvements to the service we provide.

Your Needs Assessment provider will have a Complaints Policy which you’ll be made aware of. If you’re not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint, you can ask for the matter to be escalated to SLC.

If you feel your experience did not meet any of the expectations above, you can share any concerns with SLC by contacting our Complaints team (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company/about/complaints-procedure).

SLC administer the DSA scheme in accordance with policy guidance set by the Department for Education (https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/2029/dsa-guidance-2425-v10.pdf) (Student Finance England) and Welsh Government (https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/practitioners/guidance-chapters/) (Student Finance Wales).