Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the £200 contribution for Disabled Students’ Allowance equipment on the take-up of that allowance on students from low income families.

Students from the lowest-income households who started their courses this year have access to the largest ever amounts of cash-in-hand support for their living costs.

Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) are not means-tested so applicants are not required to submit evidence of their family income. DSAs are not intended to cover study costs any student might have, nor disability-related expenditure a student would incur if they were not studying in higher education. The £200 contribution was introduced as computers are a mainstream cost for all students and it is right therefore that students eligible for DSAs should contribute towards the cost of their DSAs-recommended computer equipment.