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home > student support > dsa > dsa customer survey

DSA Customer Survey Results 2007

DSA Customer Survey 2007

Thank you to everyone who completed our first Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) customer survey form.

We have now collated all the responses we received. The results are shown here along with an outline of the main issues raised and what we are doing to address them.

Applications and Guidance

Towards the end of this year we will review our annual DSA literature. As a result of comments made in the survey we will be looking at providing more help in our literature on how to actually fill in the form.

We are continually looking at ways to improve the whole application process and for the future we are looking to develop an on-line service for DSA applications.

We will carry out additional training on DSA for the staff who operate our main telephone enquiry line.

Needs Assessment

While many of you were satisfied with the needs assessment process, some of you indicated that the whole process was too long with equipment not being received until well into the course.

There is a scheme in operation to establish an agreed quality assurance framework under which assessments can be carried out. We now have over 30 colleges and universities who are authorised to carry out assessments. Steps are in place to bring more institutions on board, which should improve the efficiency of the whole DSA process.

We understand the importance of having your support in place at the start of your course and we will allow payment of DSA to be made up to four weeks before you start your course. To help make that possible, it is vital that you contact your institution or SAAS at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss your support needs.  

DSA for Personal Help

The results in this section were not entirely representative of the student population as many of you who responded did not require any personal help. The comments from those that did were mostly positive.

We will try to ensure that all students who apply to us for Non-Medical Personal Help receive a copy of the guide “Employing Support Workers in Higher Education”. We aim to promote this further on our website and in any relevant correspondence you receive from us.

Other Issues

We will aim to raise wider issues you raised with the Disabled Student Stakeholder Group (DSSG). The DSSG was established to consider and address issues relating to the support available to learners with additional needs in further and higher education. Further details on the group can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Funding-Support-Grants/FFL/stakeholdergroups/Q/editmode/on/forceupdate/on.

The main issues we will take forward with the group are:

  • Delay in supply of equipment from some companies;
  • Ensuring staff working with students are fully trained and aware of the DSA process;
  • Improving the waiting times for students to get an appointment with their Disability Advisor;
  • Looking at support for students in terms of installation of equipment, etc.

I hope that you find this information useful and thank you once again for your feedback. It is only by understanding what our customers think about our services and the whole DSA process that we can take steps to improve them.

David Stephen
Chief Executive