Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of suspending the requirement for disabled students to contribute £200 towards the purchase of assistive technology through the disabled students’ allowance during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.
Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) provide for the additional costs that disabled students may face in higher education because of their disability. A basic computer is a mainstream cost of study and students are therefore expected to make a £200 contribution towards the cost of any computer recommended as part of their needs assessment. The contribution is for computer hardware only; students are not expected to fund recommended specialist software or training in how to use it.
There are currently no plans to suspend the requirement for disabled students to contribute £200 towards the purchase of a computer.
The department has not received any representations from disabled students on access to assistive technology through DSA support in relation to the economic effect of the Covid-19 outbreak.
It is too early to assess the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak on the employment opportunities for disabled students.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.