Budgeting for university as a disabled student

This information applies to England and Wales.

When you’re disabled and moving onto higher education, it’s important to manage your finances so you have enough money to live on without having too much debt.

You may find that you have to pay more than other students. For example, you might need to:

• use taxis to get around if you cannot use public transport
• cover the costs of a travel companion or personal assistant
• rent more expensive accommodation to meet your access needs
• spend more on food that is easy to prepare if you find cooking difficult
• pay for specialist equipment as well as maintenance and insurance
• replace more clothing, shoes and bedding because of wear and tear
• face higher energy bills if your condition means you need more heating or laundry 

Which? Student Budget Calculator gives you an estimate for general monthly outgoings by university.

If you have not chosen a university yet, you can take a look at the average student costs for the UK (Which?)

Setting up and managing a budget

Before you can set yourself a budget, find out what student funding you can get and make sure you apply for it on time.

Funding for disabled students

Student finance calculator (GOV.UK)

Benefits you can claim

Grants checker

You can then work out a budget that reflects your income and all your costs.

UCAS budgeting tool

Useful student budgeting tips (ucas.com)

Funding for disability-related study costs

Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) can cover the extra disability-related study costs or expenses you incur, such as:

• specialist equipment and assistive technology, such as computers and audio capturing equipment
• non-medical human support, such as specialist mentor or study skill support
• everyday disability-related costs of studying, such as extra hard copies of materials or a small fridge to store medication
• extra travel costs getting to and from university

You can get DSA on top of other student loans. You will not have to pay it back. DSA only covers education, not personal care costs. 

Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)

Funding for university 

Funding for personal care costs

When you go to university, your local authority where you live permanently should fund your care package.

You can ask for an assessment of your care and support needs. This covers personal care, accommodation, education and transport.

Getting a social care needs assessment

If you are eligible for support, you will have the option of a personal budget.

For advice on different ways of managing the money, call Disability Rights UK’s personal budgets helpline.

Education factsheets and guides (Disability Rights UK)

Getting student financial advice

If you’re finding it difficult to manage your finances, you can get advice from your student disability adviser or student money advice team at your college or university.

They will be able to advise you on money management, help you stick to your budget and let you know if extra sources of income are available.

You could also try:

Which? student finance information and advice

Student and graduate money (MoneyHelper)

They also offer money advice over the phone, via WhatsApp messages or web chats.

Student health and wellbeing support services (ucas.com)

These can help if you need emotional support with money management or adjusting to university life.