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DSA increase

Disabled Students' Allowances in England increase by 60%
The Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Bill Rammell, announced on 2 July 2007 that from 2008/09 the maximum amounts of Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs) for non-medical helpers and for postgraduates will go up by 60%. This means that

   •The maximum amount of the DSA for non-medical helpers will increase from £12,420 in 2007/08 to £20,000 in 2008/09 for full-time students and from £9,315 in 2007/08 to £15,000 in 2008/09 for part-time students.

   •The maximum amount of the DSA for postgraduate students will increase from £5,915 in 2007/08 to £10,000 in 2008/09

Bill Rammell said:
"We know that there are a small number of disabled students who need a lot of support. We want these students to be able to reap the benefits of higher education which is why we are increasing the Disabled Students' Allowance by about 60%"

"Through making the increases to the Disabled Students' Allowances we hope to increase students' access to the types of support which are essential for their continuing success within Higher Education."


NIACE leads new Commission for disabled staff

The Commission of Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning, launched on 9 May, will examine the recruitment, training, deployment and career progression of disabled staff across the lifelong learning sector in England and Wales. Disabled staff, senior managers and Human Resources departments, training providers, professional and advocacy organisations and Government are all invited to submit evidence.

More details   Consultations


Access to justice - help Mind lobby for change

Mind, the mental health charity, will be campaigning this autumn on issues relating to access to justice for mental health service users.

It is currently collecting evidence on the experiences of people with mental health problems in accessing the systems of justice in England and Wales, and would like to hear from you. Mind has produced two questionnaires, one for service users and one for staff involved in the delivery of advocacy and other related services. They can be downloaded from: http://www.mind.org.uk Alternatively, you can order paper copies by contacting Mind's campaign team on 020 8215 2424 or action@mind.org.uk. Return completed questionnaires to the freepost address by 20 August 2007.

If you would like to discuss the campaign further, please contact Emma Mamo, Campaigns Officer, on 020 8215 2205 or via e.mamo@mind.org.uk

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GOJO to ease travel on public transport A new website to make travelling by public transport easier for young disabled people has gone live as part of a new campaign by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).

GOJO is for the thousands of young disabled people (between 16-25 years old) who have difficulties or fears using public transport. The campaign follows changes to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), introduced in December 2006, which gives disabled people the right, for the first time, to fair treatment on public transport.

The campaign is being launched in 5 cities and their wider regions in May – Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester and Exeter – with ‘guerrilla-style’ stand-up comedy gigs on buses performed by comedians from Abnormally Funny People.

Get involved
Young disabled people, their friends and families are encouraged to take trips on public transport and to feed back their experiences on the GOJO website. Local transport and leisure providers will be promoting initiatives on the longest weekend in June – from the Summer Solstice on Thursday June 21 to Sunday June 24 2007. Why not get on board?

Go to the GOJO website which is packed with useful information including
  • An interactive journey planner
  • Information on local services
  • Hints and tips on planning ahead
  • Help on what to do if your journey doesn’t work out as expected

MATILDAH - Making Advanced Technology Useful for Independent Living for Disabled People at Home

A team of researchers at the University of Dundee would like to hear from disabled adults (ages 18-65) about the technologies they use in their homes.

For more information or to get involved in this project, please contact

Dr Fiona M Bolik
SESWCE (Social Work)
University of Dundee
Gardyne Road Campus
Dundee DD5 1NY

Tel 01382 464378
Fax 01382 464296
Mobile (SMS) 07917 743217
Email: info@matildah.org.uk
Web site: www.matildah.org.uk | Read PDF flyer


Calling all disabled international students

• Are you an international student with an impairment / disability , long-term health condition and / or learning difficulty?

• Would you like to contribute to the disability debate in English universities? Armineh Soorenian, an international disabled PhD student at the University of Leeds, is researching the experiences of fellow students in the UK university system and would like to hear from you.

Contact: spl3a2s@leeds.ac.uk

More information



Making your teaching inclusive

What is Making your teaching inclusive?
The website Making your teaching inclusive provides lecturers and tutors in higher education with information, advice and guidance about making “reasonable adjustments” within the teaching environment. The development is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England as part of a major programme for improving disability provision.

The website provides resources to help lecturers make their teaching work for all students. There will be practical advice about working within different teaching environments and examples of good practice. It will describe what study is like for students with particular disabilities and what teaching staff can do to make a difference. Specifically, the produced resources will include material in the following areas:

  • Legal and professional context
  • Understanding and awareness
  • Identifying a student’s needs
  • Inclusive teaching
  • Describing disability
  • Staff development
Making your teaching inclusive
The project is being led by The Open University’s Student Services unit with support from a number of expert practitioners drawn from campus-based university teaching staff, students and disability and staff development specialists. Visit the website at www.open.ac.uk/inclusiveteaching/

[posted 13th Febuary 2006]

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