Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government launched a consultation on the Review of Disabled Students’ Allowance which closed on 30 September 2013. It is currently considering the responses and will publish its response imminently.

The number of claims for DSA in each academic year since 2001-02 are as follows:

Source: Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2010-11; Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2012-13, Scottish Government

Disabled Students Allowance is paid out in response to demand so claims are only made by students where there are justified needs, and those needs are not already being met by the student’s own equipment or institutional support. Initial discussions with the Disabled Student Advisers Group have suggested that the reduction in the number of claimants between 2011-12 and 2012-13 may be due to institutions being in a better state of readiness in terms of the reasonable adjustments expected of them by the Equality Act, along with technological improvements which mean that the functionality of equipment being used by students today lends itself much more easily to supporting those students with disabilities.

A number of organisations are involved in delivering post-16 education. I have asked the chief executives of both the Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland to write to the member.

Local authorities also deliver post-16 education to S5 and S6 pupils in secondary schools. Information on local authorities’ spend per secondary school stage is not held centrally.

The release makes clear the new colleges are of considerable scale and ambition, responsible for meeting the needs of learners and employers in their region. We expect regional curricula to align to industry needs and to provide enhanced opportunities for learners to develop the skills employers need.

That, in turn, will improve productivity, support growth and boost employment.

The Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) paid Disabled Students Allowance for travel costs only to 16 students in 2012-13. SAAS do not hold this information for 2011-12.

In 2012-13 there were 4,376 students not in receipt of a bursary in the household income brackets of £0 - £35,000. The main reason for this is due to previous study rules. Students who may have been repeating a year on academic grounds and those that were undertaking second degrees were not eligible for bursary or tuition fee support. However, they could apply for student loans so provided their household income details to SAAS.

In 2012-13, some categories of independent student were eligible to receive a young student bursary. These were:

students under 25 with a child;

students permanently estranged from their parents;

students who turn 25 during their course;

young students who married or moved in with a partner during their course;

young orphaned students.

It is not possible to identify the number of students that fall into all these categories.

The tuition fee level for 2014-15 has yet to be agreed.

The average tuition fee payment per year can be found at Table 1 of The Statistics Publication Notice Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2012-13. Table 1 can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/10/1120/6.

The Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) spent £573,852 on travel costs through Disabled Students Allowance in 2012-13. This represents 194 students. SAAS do not hold the equivalent information for 2011-12 and it is not possible, from the information held, to identify how much of this would previously have been met through the travel expenses grant.