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Money

Financial support if you have a disability

If you are a young person with a disability, there are a number of different benefits and tax credits you may be able to claim. Usually, your parents would claim the benefit on your behalf.

Direct Gov has information on all of the benefits you can apply for if you have a disability. They also have a section for students with a disability which has further information on the following benefits:

Disabled Students' Allowances
Access to Learning Fund
Disability Living Allowance
Employment and Support Allowance

Disabled Students' Allowances

Disabled Students' Allowances are grants to help with the extra costs a student may face as the direct result of an impairment, health condition or specific learning difficulty.

The amount you can get isn't affected by your household income, and the allowances do not have to be repaid.

Disabled Students' Allowances - introduction

Access to Learning Fund

If you're in financial difficulty, you may be able to claim additional financial help through the Access to Learning Fund.

Access to Learning Fund (general education and learning section)

Disability Living Allowance

You may be able to claim Disability Living Allowance over and above Disabled Students' Allowances and other forms of student finance for yourself, or on behalf of a disabled child if you're responsible for their care. The award looks at two things: level of mobility and the amount the amount of care needed.

Disability Living Allowance

Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit

If you’re over 16 and have an illness or disability which affects your ability to work, you may be able to apply for Employment and Support Allowance.
You’re usually only able to claim this if you’ve paid enough National Insurance contributions during your working life. However, you may still receive it if you’re under 25 and satisfy certain conditions.

Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit are benefits for people with an illness or disability that affects their ability to work.

If you already claim one of these benefits, you may be able to carry on receiving it as a student.

You can get more information about claiming benefits while studying from Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities.