This page advises student with any disability or illness on what they might be entitled to and how to access it. This includes Disabled Students’ Allowance, Welfare Benefits, charitable grants and support from your local authority.
Please speak to a RUSU Adviser or a member of the University’s Disability Advisory Team for more information.
To apply for DSA:
If you need help with filling in this form, please speak to the University’s Disability Advisory Team in the Carrington Building or call them on 0118 378 4202 or email them on disability@reading.ac.uk.
If you have a residence permit or visa that allows you to live in the UK, it may include the condition that you have ‘no recourse to public funds’. If so, it means you will not be able to claim most welfare benefits that are paid by the state. However, there are exceptions for some benefits and if you are in any doubt, please speak to a RUSU Adviser.
To apply for PIP:
DLA is available to children aged under 16 with a disability or illness.
Attendance Allowance is for adults over 65 and over.
In order to claim UC, a full time student must be eligible for DLA/PIP or have dependent children and must be assessed as having a limited capacity for work in the DWP’s work capability assessment. This can help with housing costs as well as serve as a replacement for lost income.
The University has a fund for students who are struggling financially. All students can apply to this fund. Money can be given when students are faced with unexpected costs, but will NOT pay for tuition fees or accommodation deposits. To apply, visit Student Services in the Carrington Building to pick up the form or speak to a RUSU Adviser.
If you are studying at Henley Business School and are in financial hardship, you can also apply to their fund. To apply, visit Reception in the Henley Business School.
Turn2us is a website which helps you search for grants, which may support people with your disability or illness. This website allows you to filter charities which will help you within their criteria.
If you have high care needs you can ask for help from your local authority, of which you are a permanent resident (where you lived before University). This help might include a care package if you need help with washing, dressing, etc. or access to services which will support you look after yourself.
You may need to pay for this care: this will be decided by the local authority when you apply.
If you would like further advice or to speak with somebody in person pleace contact a RUSU Adviser. The specialist advisers offer a confidential service, independent from the University so they can discuss your case with you in private.
Services which operate within the Advice Service have separate sessions: see their individual pages for further info on how and when to access them.
Following the current situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19), RUSU staff have been asked to work for remotely for the foreseeable future. This includes the staff within the Advice Service.
As a result, the Advice Service is unable to offer face-to-face appointment or a drop-in service at the current time, but we are still able to offer advice to students.
If you would like some support from the Advice Service then please complete our Talk to us form. Alternatively, you can email the service on advice@rusu.co.uk
Please be assured that an Adviser will get in touch with you as soon as possible, and that we can still offer appointments via other methods (for example, via telephone, Skype or Microsoft Teams).