Evaluation of Disable Students' Allowances

We are seeking a contractor to evaluate Disabled Students' Allowances. The aims of the evaluation are:

• To evaluate whether receipt of DSA reduces barriers to learning
• To evaluate the impact of recent changes to DSA
• To better understand the type and intensity of support that students in receipt of DSA receive
• To better understand the adjustments that HE providers have made in light of the changes to DSA, in particular the changes made in 2016/17.

The evaluation will comprise

• A quantitative online survey of 2000 disabled students
• Qualitative interviews of 50 disabled students
• Qualitative interviews of 5 Higher Education providers.

The survey and the qualitative interviews with students will be composed of the following four comparator groups:

• A cohort of students first accessing DSA in the 2016/17 academic year
• A cohort of students first accessing DSA in the 2015/16 academic year
• A cohort of students first accessing DSA prior to the 2015/16 academic years. This group will mostly comprise fourth year students on four year courses, and on that basis may be a difficult cohort to recruit.
• A cohort of disabled students not in receipt of DSA

As the survey is of students with a range of disabilities, such as visual impairments and learning difficulties, contractors will need to consider what adjustments need to be made to the online survey to capture accurate data. The survey should include postgraduates and undergraduates roughly proportionate to number who receive DSA.

The subject matter of this evaluation is sensitive. Therefore, the qualitative interviews with disabled students, in particular, will need to be conducted accordingly.