Thousands sign petition against cuts to tech support for disabled students in England
Summary
Campaigners in England are opposing government plans to cut funding for specialist assistive technology used by tens of thousands of disabled university students. They say the cuts could make studying harder for disabled students, increase dropout rates, and harm mental health, while the government believes free, widely available tools can replace some specialist software.Key Facts
- Nearly 10,000 people signed a petition against cutting funding for specialist assistive software in England’s Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).
- Over 88,000 students used the DSA in 2023-24, with the government spending £203 million on it.
- The Department for Education wants to stop funding specialist software except in rare cases, saying free tools now offer similar help.
- Disability groups say free, general tools don’t match the personalized support of specialist software.
- Specialist software includes tools for text-to-speech, speech-to-text, mind mapping, note-taking, and managing tasks.
- Disabled students report that specialist tech is crucial for their learning and cannot be properly replaced by free apps.
- Some students say replacing specialist tools with generic AI tools would create extra stress and academic difficulties.
- The government consultation on this change ends on June 18.
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