Education benefits

As a higher education student living in England, you can apply for a DSA if you have a disability. This includes students with a long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difficulty.

Disabled Students’ Allowances are paid on top of your other student finance. They help you pay the extra costs you may have because of your disability. They don’t have to be repaid.

How much you get depends on your individual needs - not your household income. If you’re a part-time student your ‘course intensity’ can affect how much you get.

A bursary is money that you, or your education or training provider, can use to pay for things like:

• clothing, books and other equipment for your course
• transport and lunch on days you study or train.

You could get a bursary to help with education-related costs if you’re aged 16 to 19 and are:

• studying at a publicly funded school or college in England (not a university)
• on a training course, including unpaid work experience.

A publicly funded school is one that doesn’t charge you for attending it.