Disabled Student Allowance

time2save

Hi Bryando,

I'm happy that your uni has arranged for you to have a DSA Taxi account as it will reduce the stress for reclaiming.

Some really useful comments from others too.



I know SAAS and it's counterparts work differently to Student Finance England but your needs assessor should have said in their report if £60 is for a return journey (which I would expect). I would also clarify if you need to pay the taxi comp the public transport equivalent, this is the amount it would cost all students to go to and from uni, from where you live, in the form of public transport. Look for cheapest.

So can a "normal" person get a bus/es to and from your house to uni and how much would it cost etc?


My DSA needs assessor said it would be £5 :eek::eek::eek: but after doing some research it was £3.90 per return journey on a bus (i.e. daytripper ticket). Wether someone wants to take the bus is not considered!


You might want to ask SAAS if you can have single journeys to and from uni, as you might on some days want to go home with friends etc.

I also think that anyone can take the ride with you but may need to check with uni or SAAS.


Also ask Taxi firm or SAAS for DSA invoices like once a term or at the end of the year, just to double check if you want.


You might want to ask for how many taxis you are allocated and if you need more - can you have them (may need letter from consultant to justify why you need more at a later date, like if you've become ill etc).


Dunroamin the prices are eye watering but it is legal and the system has been in place for quite a while now; though many people (not yourself) are still very ignorant when it comes to DSA.


Something along the lines of:
How much are the taxis costing?..and the Gov is funding this..for you to go to college/uni [Higher Education]?



time2save

Dogger69

Bryando wrote: »

4 years in Scotland. So I have to be denied doing a degree I wish due to my disability? The OU does not do the degree I want.

DSA is a fund set aside for this sort of purpose!

Can I ask what you intend to do after university? If you are aiming to work, the Access To Work fund is far less generous than DSA. I am all for learning being accessible to all, but you need to look at your long term options - no point in doing a degree that is of no use to you.