You can apply for support from Student Finance if you suffer from mental illness

If you're suffering from mental illness and feel as though it's impacting your studies, the Disabled Students' Allowance are there to offer further support to help you through your university year.

Given the nature of the ongoing discussion that surrounds mental illness at the minute, it comes as no surprise that not everyone affected by it realises that it is classed as a disability, which in turn would allow them to receive addition help with their degree.

You're able to apple for the DSA through Student Finance England, whilst applying for the rest of your loan. You are required to send medical evidence along with your application, after which point you'll be informed as to whether you're eligible for DSA or not.

Give that you do receive your letter of eligibility, you'll then be prompted to book a Needs Assessment at a centre near you. This doesn't necessarily mean it'll be near your university, but it could also be where you're based not during term time.

The Needs Assessment

The assessment lasts for two hours, although breaks can be taken as and when you so desire. The first hour is dedicated to discussing your mental illness and how this interacts with your studies. The focus here goes into your assessment and any struggles you have there, and it also looks into how you are taught and how you conduct your studies at university.

The second hour then focusses on the assessor's observations. They'll have compiled a list on any equipment that could aid your learning. This can include any additional computer softwares (reading softwares, for example), mind-mapping softwares, note-taking softwares, etc.

For the next two or three weeks that follow this assessment, the assessor will put together a document which highlights everything that was suggested that would aid your studies, all whilst reaching out to external companies to provide price quotes for all the items the assessor recommends.

This report gets sent back to you, your university's disability centre, as well as Student Finance England, who will then provide you with a quote of how much funding they're willing to offer.

This service is easy to use, and the process appears to be conducted on a very personal level, so the outcome you get is catered entirely to your needs.