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Written question asked by Marsha De Cordova (Labour) on Friday, 10 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 October 2025 (named day). It was answered by Josh MacAlister (Labour) on Tuesday, 28 October 2025 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Software

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with students on the potential impact of the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.

Answer

The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather feedback on the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) funding. While there have been no recent direct discussions with students, the department conducted an Equality Impact Assessment to consider potential impacts and appropriate mitigations. This policy applies to new DSA recipients only and does not affect any spelling and grammar software already awarded to existing students.

The decision followed a detailed review which found that there are now free to access versions available with the required spelling and grammar support functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. DSA will continue to fund such software in exceptional cases where a robust disability-related justification is provided.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
78485
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Software Disabled students' allowances
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk