Category:Funding

Don't hesitate to apply for any and all funding available; it's there to support you. You can talk to your tutor, your DoS or your disability advisor about funding, and they should know what's available and how to get it. Alternatively, this category has pages on the various funds available to University of Cambridge students and people's experience of the application process.

Why might disabled students incur extra costs / need more funding relative to non-disabled students?

As well as all of the things that non-disabled students need, disabled students often have additional expenses, such as; It’s also less likely that disabled students will be able to secure flexible employment to fit around their studies compared to their non-disabled peers.
 * social care support e.g. assistance getting up and getting dressed
 * adapted accommodation e.g. flashing lights for D/deaf or HoH students instead of fire alarms
 * mobility aids e.g. power chairs
 * medical equipment e.g. crutches
 * assistive technology and/or software e.g. voice-to-text programs like Dragon
 * costs of obtaining medical evidence or undergoing disability assessments
 * travel costs e.g. needing to use taxis or public transport instead of walking or cycling
 * non-medical helpers  e.g. a library assistant to fetch and return books

A lot of these needs won’t be eligible for DSA or other disabled student funding, as they’re part of the cost of being a disabled person, and not just a disabled student. For this reason, the DSC campaigns on a wide range of funding issues, since if someone can’t meet the funding requirements of being a disabled person, the extra funding needed to be a disabled student becomes irrelevant.