Financial support

An Access to Work grant helps pay for practical support if you have a disability, health or mental health condition so you can start working, stay in work or start your own business. How much you can get depends on your circumstances. The money does not have to be paid back and does not affect your benefits.

There are benefits calculators on the Gov.uk website that can help you find out what you may be entitled to, including Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) information.

Funding and grants available for disabled students

As a higher education student living in England, you can apply for a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) if you have a disability, including a:

• long-term health condition
• mental health condition
• specific learning difficulty, e.g. dyslexia

You may find helpful information in the Resources section of Preparing for Adulthood (PFA) or visiting Disability Rights UK - Student FAQ

Working Families have produced a guide - From Child to Adult: A guide to disability, transition and family finances – updated 2014 about how family finances affected when a disabled child becomes an adult?  You can find more information and download the PDF here.

If you would like some help in being able to manage your finances and learn practical money management skills then Barclays Money Skills have a number of resources and NatWest MoneySense has interactive pages for different age groups as well as for teachers/parents.

Barclays Bank also have a Young Persons Hub which contains information and video to develop Life Skills including a series of ten lesson plans specifically for students with SEND.