Disabled Student Allowances Student Finance England

Disabled Student Allowances Student Finance England

What we will cover today Our Product Our Students Our Department Our Applications Case Study: Application Process Needs Assessment Entitlement Process Payments Response Team Our Achievements 2017 Changes Consent To Share

Our Product Grant Previous Study ELQ Non Income Assessed 9 Month Time Limit Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) Full Time & Part Time Equality Act Undergraduate & Postgraduate

Our Students AY 15/16 Mode of Study Gender 2055 5304 18604 15411 10566 Full-Time Part-Time Postgraduate Male Female

Our Department Service Manager Stakeholder Consultant 4 Operations Managers Continuous Improvement Manager 3 Improvement Specialists 14 Team Managers + 4 Developing Team Managers

Our Department 48 Administration Assistants Process 3 rd party invoices Handle aged debt queries Handle payment reporting 110 Officers Review Needs Assessments Handle Emails 2 Act as Trainers 27 Act as QA 2 roll into CIT 3 Act as Investigators 2 Act as Report Analysts 6 Act as Taxi Account Managers 48 Assessors Review applications Review medical evidence Process student claims 6 staff DSA Response Line

No of applications rec'd Our Applications 80000 DSA applications rec'd by academic year 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 Academic year

Number of items Our Applications 10000 Academic year 15/16 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 DSA1 Rec'd NAR Rec'd 3000 2000 1000 0

Fictional Case Study - Hector University of Hedges Full-time Undergraduate Studying Business Management Diagnosis of Dyslexia and Arthritis Struggled during the first term of course

Our Process - Application

Our Process - Entitlement Non-Medical Help Equipment Travel General Specialist 1-2-1 Study Skills Assistive Technology Support Specialist Mentor British Sign Language Interpreters Assistive Software Ergonomic Equipment Audio Capture Equipment Radio Aids Reimbursement for Occasional Travel Taxi Account for Frequent Travel Millage Reimbursement Consumables (paper, ink) Cost of Study Needs Assessment

Our Process Payments Invoices Process 320,000 Only items agreed on the DSA2 can be paid for. Aim to review within 20 Working Days 138 million paid in 2015 Invoices are usually paid out of the academic year in which the support was received. Invoices Invoices are either sent to us via post (70%) or via our e-invoicing system (30%). 0.3% Payment Errors 10% Queried 68% NMH 10% Equipment 10% GA 4% Travel

Our process Payments claims Types of Claim: Printer Consumables Photocopying All student claims must be submitted with an itemised and dated receipt to show proof of purchase. Equipment Non Medical Help Only items agreed on the DSA2 can be reimbursed. Items may be purchased before the start of the AY providing all other reimbursement rules are met. Accommodation Colour Sensitivity Claims are usually paid out of the academic year in which the receipts are dated. Mileage Claims Taxi Receipts

Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Response Team 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Number of calls made to the Response Team 98.00 97.50 97.00 96.50 96.00 95.50 % of calls handled by the Response Team

Our Achievements Working Reports from our Inbox Voice of the customer - (56%) indicate the time taken to process the DSA application (end to end) is reason for dissatisfaction. The process took far too long. I applied in aug and didn't receive my equipment till feb Applied in Mid 2015 for starting in October 2015. Order was not processed until Mid-Feb 2016. Considering most of the support was designed to help settle into Uni, this poor response is a failure on SFE's part. I'm halfway through the year and haven't received anything yet Driver of dissatisfaction Percentage Processing time 56% It is a long winded application. It takes a lot of time and is very complicated, especially for a dyslexic student! There was a lot to sort and organise and the different companies or people who work within that process make it hard to know who to call for some help along the way

Our Achievements Needs Assessment Report Template Consistency More accurate when processing Fair - same information for all students Enables external reporting Enables the assessment of any impact due to changes Customer Experience Reduction in errors Less complaints Shorter processing time - staff know exactly where to find the information Reduction in text making the report more 'reader friendly'

2017 Changes Armed Forces Any serving personnel or family members will now be eligible for DSA support. NHS - New students on most Nursing, Midwifery and allied health professions (AHP) courses from 1 st August 2017 will have their funding provided by SFE and they will be eligible for DSA support.

Consent to share This is obtained from students on their DSA1 application form (both DSA1F and DSA1SL) or via a separate CTS form. It relates only to sharing information regarding a student s DSA application. The DSA team can be contacted by third parties by email and over the phone. Before 2016/17 2016/17 onwards

Consent to Share Partner Services Support Desk There is no CtS option on these lines Business to Business and Advanced Learner Loans lines, we can provide high level information to the HEP's/LP's If the query is student specific, the HEP/LP should call the Customer Contact Centre Customer Contact Centre Customer Specific queries CtS can be set up for a third party to access and discuss account Simplified CtS process for HEP/LP; 4 quick and easy questions DSA Team DSA CtS is obtained from students on their DSA1 application form or via a separate CtS form It relates only to sharing information regarding a student s DSA application 3 options for CtS: Disability Service at HEP/LP, DSA Needs Assessor & DSA Suppliers The DSA team can be contacted by third parties by email and over the phone: Contact number: 01325 215 194 Email: disability_adviser@slc.co.uk

Contact details - phone Students can get advice on their DSA by contacting the standard phone line. IVR option for students to speak to specially trained advisors supported by members of the DSA Team. Student contact number: 0300 100 0607 Stakeholders can contact the DSA Team through our dedicated line. The line is open from 09:30 16:30 Contact number: 01325 215 194 (Please do not provide this number to students or their sponsors)

Contact details - email We have 6 dedicated email addresses for contacting the DSA Team, each is worked by specialist staff with the skill set to answer the queries. Disability Advisers Needs Assessors Suppliers / Providers Students PGP reports Late Application requests - disability_adviser@slc.co.uk - access_centre@slc.co.uk - invoice_team@slc.co.uk - dsa_team@slc.co.uk - needs_assessment_reports@slc.co.uk - dsa_late_apps@slc.co.uk We answer approximately 100,000 emails every year.

Resources Additional information about DSA can be found at: http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/products/disabled-studentsallowances/dsas-updates-for-practitioners.aspx This site gives information about current processing times, has factsheets on aspects of DSA, copies of our forms and provides links to policy documents.

Emma Wright DSA Officer emma_wright@slc.co.uk 01325 215 147 Amy Hedges DSA Improvement Specialist amy_hedges@slc.co.uk 01325 215 147