My Assessment

Before your assessment

Thank you for booking your DSA Needs Assessment with Access2Learn. We are looking forward to meeting you and discussing how DSA support may be able to help. So that your assessment can go ahead as scheduled, there are a few documents we will need to see prior to your appointment. Please take a look at the information, and return the requested documents. We cannot guarantee that your assessment will be able to go ahead without all the documents. If you have any questions or queries relating to the documents, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

1: Entitlement Letter

Please send us a copy of your entitlement letter from your Funding Body. This letter should confirm your entitlement for DSA support, along with the disability or learning difficulty you are eligible to receive support for. If your Funding Body is Student Finance, you will be able to find this by logging in to your Student Finance account online and then downloading the PDF version from the Letters/Emails section of the website. An example DSA1 letter can be found here

2: Medical Evidence

Please send us a copy of the medical evidence that you submitted to your Funding Body. This could be your Dyslexia Diagnosis Report, GP letter, Psychologist Report etc. If you sent the originals through to your Funding Body and do not have a copy, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing dsa@access2learn.co.uk

3: Pre-Assessment Form

In order to get the best from your assessment, its helpful if you provide some Pre-Assessment information in advance. This allows us to do any additional research that may be needed, to ensure the best possible assessment for you. You can fill in an online version of the form here, or you can download a copy here, complete and post back to us.

At the end of the form we will require some information about your current laptop/computer (if one is owned) You can find details on how to find this information here.

The best way to send the above information to us is via email – dsa@access2learn.co.uk.

Alternatively, you can post your documents to:

Access2Learn, Unit 32, Basepoint Business Centre, Andersons Road, Southampton, SO14 5FE

(Please ensure you allow enough time for postage)

If you do not have a digital copy of your medical evidence, and the document has many pages, we recommend you give a mobile scanning app a try. There are a few options available, but for IOS devices we would recommend Scannable by Evernote. Its really simple to use and allows you to scan all pages of a document which it then optimises and converts into a PDF. This can then simply be emailed through to us by sending to dsa@access2learn.co.uk

If you only have a single page to send, then why not download our mobile app “My DSA“, available on IOS and Android where you can submit a photo or file directly through to us.

On the day

For our remote assessments, your assessor will email you a link to your zoom meeting room on the day of your appointment. You will need to allow up to 2 hours for your appointment. If you have any technical difficulties or have not received a link by the time of your appointment, please give the office a call on 0203 861 3460.

If you are travelling to our centre, please ensure you allow plenty of time to travel to your assessment, and ensure you have checked out the directions to your centre. You will need to allow up to 2 hours for your DSA Needs Assessment. If you think you are going to be late or are having any difficulties finding us, please call us on 0203 861 3460. If you are more than 15-20 minutes later we cannot guarantee your assessment will be able to take place and will have to rebook.

Dont worry! Whilst the word “assessment” is involved with DSA, it is not a test or assessment. The Needs Assessment is an opportunity to have an informal chat with a qualified Needs Assessor, discussing your course and any potential issues you may face because of your disability or learning difficulty, and then discussing potential support to help you with your studies. You will be shown a variety of equipment and software solutions that you may be eligible for, along with discussing other strategies that can support you.

You will also be asked to sign a few documents, confirming what was shown during the assessment, along with letting us know where you would like a copy of the report to be sent after your appointment. You can find an example of the document by clicking here.

After your assessment

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We write your report

Once your assessment has taken place, your assessor will complete your report. This is sent through to the DSA Team for Quality Assurance checks, all of which takes place within 10 working days of your assessment

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Review

If requested, a draft copy of your report can be issued. You will have 5 WORKING DAYS to review the recommendations made in the report. If no amendments are required, or we do not hear from you within the 5 working days, your report will be issued to your Funding Body.

Your report is sent

Once the report is ready, a copy will be issued to you, your Funding Body, and if you gave consent, your Disability Advisor. Your Funding Body will review the report and the recommendations made. If everything is ok with the report, they will issue a letter confirming what you are entitled to, and this is usually within 15 WORKING DAYS.

Decision time!

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All ok

Your funding body will review the recommendations made in the report, and make the ultimate decision on what support can be agreed. If everything is ok in the report, you will be issued with an approval letter. This letter will detail the suppliers that have been selected, along with their contact information. Please ensure you read through this letter carefully, as you will then need to contact the suppliers to arrange your support.

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Query?

Sometimes a funding body may have a query with the recommendations made in the report (they may need clarification on why other support options weren’t considered, or need details of another supplier). If so, they will get in touch with us directly to request the information. We endeavour to resolve any queries as soon as possible to minimise any delay in you receiving your approval letter. If we have had to make amendments to the report/quotes, updated copies will be sent to you.

Upgrading your equipment?

If you would like to upgrade your equipment you’ll need to pay any extra costs for this. To upgrade, contact the chosen supplier to discuss what equipment you would prefer. The supplier will tell you if this meets the minimum specification and if it will run your recommended software. They’ll also advise on the extra costs for the upgrade, which may include additional costs for software, insurance and cover. The supplier will then invoice Student Finance for the amount they have agreed to cover with your DSAs and will then invoice you for the extra costs for the upgrade.

Stay in touch

At any stage during your studies you can get in touch if you have any additional requirements, need support, or have any other questions or queries. We will also contact you throughout your studies to see how things are going, and to see if there is any additional support that is needed. We hope that your Needs Assessment equips you with the support and strategies needed to overcome any barriers in your studies.

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