{"id":412,"date":"2025-02-10T12:12:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T12:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/?p=412"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:34:12","slug":"understanding-the-dsa-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/2025\/02\/10\/understanding-the-dsa-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Funded Support Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is DSA?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Disabled Students&#8217; Allowance (DSA) is a UK government-funded grant that helps cover the additional study-related costs students may face as a direct result of a disability, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty. It can fund support such as specialist equipment, non-medical helpers, travel expenses, and assistive technology, ensuring students have equal access to their studies. The <strong>Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD)<\/strong>&nbsp;in the Republic of Ireland, provides similar funding options and financial support for disability-related study costs. For more information visit <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/alsinfohub\/need-extra-support-funded-support-dsa-fsd-explained\/\">Funded Support Explained<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Your Role in the DSA Framework:<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Supporting students effectively<\/strong> with strategies, tools, and guidance tailored to their needs as outlined in their DSA assessment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Collaborating with the wider support network<\/strong> (like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qub.ac.uk\/directorates\/sgc\/accessible-learning-support\/\">Accessible Learning Support<\/a> and AT Coordinator) to ensure a coordinated approach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Documenting progress<\/strong> and maintaining accurate records as required by DSA guidelines to support ongoing funding and reviews.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>DSA FAQs:<\/strong> Common questions and answers related to the DSA process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information and FAQ&#8217;s on the DSA\/FSD processes, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qub.ac.uk\/directorates\/sgc\/accessible-learning-support\/NeedsAssessmentCentre\/\">Needs Assessment Centre<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Funded Support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Students who are not eligible for DSA may receive alternative funded support through the QUB Student Support Fund, managed by the Accessible Learning Service. This funding typically covers one-to-one support, such as Academic Mental Health Tutoring, but does not provide a full package of support. However, students can still access site-licensed software like Everway <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/2024\/12\/19\/your-guide-to-texthelp-readwrite\/\">Read&amp;Write<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/2024\/12\/19\/your-guide-to-texthelp-equatio\/\">Equatio<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/2024\/12\/19\/your-guide-to-mindview\/\">MindView<\/a>, along with free alternatives such as apps, browser extensions, and built-in accessibility features. Students can also access support from other services within the University; For example, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qub.ac.uk\/directorates\/sgc\/wellbeing\/\">Student Wellbeing Service<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/\">Students&#8217; Union<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qub.ac.uk\/directorates\/sgc\/learning\/\">Learning Development Service.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Support Channels<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/alsinfohub\/\">ALS Info Hub<\/a>:<\/strong>&nbsp;Access the latest resources, events, and student support opportunities for Accessible Learning registered students.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For more information on providing support to students, please visit the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.qub.ac.uk\/directorates\/sgc\/disability\/SupportProviders\/\">Register of Support Providers at QUB<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-support-providers","tag-support-providers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1823,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412\/revisions\/1823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/studentatguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}