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The Access SUMMIT Assessment Service is able to assist students with a wide
range of difficulties as we have assessors with a wide range of expertise.
Access SUMMIT is a registered assessment centre
with DSA -
QAG to undertake DSA assessments; this body
oversees the Quality Assurance compliance of Centres. The Centre is also a member of the
National Network of Assessment Centres (NNAC).
As a member of The National Network of Assessment Centres, Access SUMMIT offers an Assistive Technology and Personal Support Assessment Service for people with disabilities. Most of our assessment work is related to the Disabled Students Allowances (available for many students with disabilities in Higher Education) but we are also able to undertake assessments for people in relation to study in FE and employment where we believe our expertise allows.
Our team of assessors has experience and expertise in assisting students with a wide range of needs resulting from specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, physical difficulties and communication impairments, hearing and visual impairments, mental health difficulties and Aspergers Syndrome. We consider each referral carefully to make sure that an appropriate assessor or assessors are assigned to each client. Where we think that we may need additional expertise, for example from a Speech and Language Therapist or an Occupational Therapist or staff from one of the specialist disability centres such as The ACE Centre - North or The RNIB we will advise the client accordingly and organise this.
If you wish to apply for funding through the Disabled Students Allowances, you must contact your Local Education Authority (LEA) Student Awards Team (or NHS for Nursing Students or Social Work Funding Council for Social Work Diploma students ) and ask for forms relating to the Disabled Students Allowance to be sent to you. You should complete these and send them back to your Funding Body as soon as possible along with proof of your disability. In the case of dyslexia (or any other specific learning difficulty) this will be a copy of your diagnostic report (e.g. from an educational psychologist - although reports from other professionals may be accepted - you should check what is acceptable with your Funding Body).
If your evidence is accepted, your Funding Body should then write to you giving its permission for you to proceed for an Assessment of Needs at an Assessment Centre and telling you about any particular requirements or limitations which may apply.
The purpose of the assessment appointment is to identify the disabled student's needs and requirements in relation to the course of study and any additional costs incured because of their disability or difficulty. These may include extra levels of personal support, equipment, consumables, additional travel costs etc. All additional requirements are justified and a report is sent to the student, the funding body and, if agreed, the disability advisor / learning support advisor at the University / College.
All information is treated as confidential as required professionally under the Data Protection Act.
Before an assessment can be organised the student has to apply to their funding body. This could be a Local Education Authority, NHS Bursary, the Open University, Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales, Student Finance Northern Ireland, Student Awards for Scotland (SAAS), a Research Council or the Education and Library Boards of Northern Ireland. For approval by the funding body the student should consult the disability advisor or student support advisor at their institution of study.
The DSA is available to Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. For further information on the allowances go to:
Marlene Parnell Tel 0161 275 0986 or Susan Heslop on Tel 0161 275 0983 or Email assessments@access-summit.org.uk
Alternatively use our Assessment Referral Form.
The Appointment is likely to take between 1 and 2.5 hours
While this appointment is called an Assessment, it is not a test and will not require you to pass anything. Instead, it is a discussion with someone who is experienced in identifying appropriate provision, resources and strategies for you to use in relation to the particular difficulties you experience or will experience on your course
At the appointment, your needs and the demands of your course will be discussed. The assessor will aim to agree with you all the equipment and support that you need for your studies.
The assessor will subsequently produce a written report of what was agreed with you, copies will be sent to yourself and to your LEA for their agreement.
The report (sometimes referred to as a 'needs assessment') is used by Student Finance England, Local Education Authorities (LEAs), and some other funding bodies, to work out the support they are willing to fund from the Disabled Students Allowances (DSA).
The assessment will also help you and your university or college discuss and agree what it should be doing so that you can get the most out of your course.
Many students feel that computer technology would be useful to them. However, there are particular restrictions applying to these and both Access SUMMIT and your Funding Body have to follow strict guidelines from the government which sets out the circumstances in computer technology can be recommended. All recommendations made must be directly associated with a course related need resulting from your disability. In a number of cases, this means that we are unable to recommend all the resources you feel would be useful.
A number of funding bodies will allow you to add your own money to those funds they are able to make available to allow you to purchase additional or alternative equipment. For example: it may not have been possible to recommend a laptop PC and so a desktop was recommended and your Funding Body has approved this, but you would still prefer a laptop; your Funding Body may allow you to pay the difference to the supplier to allow you to get a laptop PC.
It will be helpful if, before the Assessment Appointment:-
You know about the activities the course will expect you to participate in;
You know how the course is delivered (lectures, seminars, labs);
You know how many teaching hours there are there each week;
You know how you are to be assessed? E.g. Exams, coursework;
You know if you need to use any particular equipment or software;
You know how the workload may change over the course;
You know how much reading you will you need to do;
You know if tutors expect students to use email and online resources;
You know if you will need to go on a placement or undertake field trips.
Also think about the effectiveness of any equipment and support you used previously and how this might of been made more effective;
Did you have help from family, friends or teachers - people who might not be able to help as much now?
Also think carefully about the particular difficulties you are experiencing or expect to experience and the possible ways in which these could be addressed.
The assessor's job will be to consider how these difficulties can be addressed through the use of The DSA given those limitations which do apply. There are rules Access SUMMIT and Funding Bodies have to use to help with determining what is and what is not allowed from The DSA.
You may wish to bring someone along who knows your needs well to make sure that all options have been considered during an Assessment Appointment; this is fine. In other cases, parents or advocates may need to accompany you to The Centre and may wish to be involved in the Assessment Appointment; if this is acceptable to you is acceptable to us; but please sort this out before the appointment and let us know if someone will be attending with you. This helps us with room allocations and lets us know what to expect.
When you first arrive for your Assessment Appointment we may need to check out some details with you. We may have other Assessments organised so we may need to ask you to wait for a short time while we get everyone sorted out.
During the Assessment Appointment it is likely that you will be given the opportunity to try out various resources. The Assessor will need to write some notes to help with writing the report. Some Assessors will type these notes directly into a PC.
Following the Assessment the Assessor will write a report which will form the basis of your request to your Funding Body for assistance from the Disabled Students Allowances. The Assessment Report will usually take between one and two weeks to write. It can be sent direct to your funding body or sent to you first to check over.
If computer technology is recommended Access SUMMIT is obliged to specify suppliers which have agreed to meet certain standards.
Access SUMMIT has no control over this decision or the length of time the decision takes but we suggest that if you have not heard anything from your Funding Body within two / three weeks after the Assessment Report has been sent to them you should phone or e-mail the person dealing with your request at your Funding Body using the contact details on the front of your Assessment Report.
Occasionally Funding bodies ask Access SUMMIT for more information or clarification about a particular recommendation. We try to deal with this as quickly as possible but if it does happen the final decision will be inevitably delayed.
Your Funding Body will consider the report and advise you of their decision. You should NOT order any equipment until advised to do so by your Funding Body or you may end up paying for it yourself.
Unfortunately, no assessor cannot make 100% accurate judgements about what will and what will be appropriate, and so you will need to take some responsibility for thinking carefully about the options and trying things out. It may be the case that the resources/strategies agreed upon in the assessment do not work out, in which case it is possible to consider alternatives and ask for further funding.
If, after reading this, you have any queries about the Assessment, please contact Jonathan Spicer (Assessment Co-ordinator) on 0161 275 0999 or Email assessments@access-summit.org.uk