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Written question asked by Richard Quigley (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 May 2026. It was answered by Josh MacAlister (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Assistive Technology

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she made of whether there were adequate exceptional circumstances as a mitigating measure for the removal of spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowances.

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 Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding, in advance of a decision being taken. The decision followed a detailed review which found that free-to-access versions now offer the required spelling and grammar support functionality to meet students’ disability-related needs.

DSA will continue to fund spelling and grammar software in exceptional circumstances where there is a specific disability-related need that cannot be met by the functionality and software already available to a student, to ensure that a student in this position will still be able to access the required software through DSA funding. The equality impact assessment is attached to this response.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
2983
Session
2026-27
Attachment
2982_2983_DSA_Equalities_Impact_Assessment
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Disabled students' allowances Assistive technology
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk