Funding for assistive technology

There a number of ways you can secure funding for assistive technology.

Government funding

Sources of government funding for assistive technology (AT) in the UK depend on different circumstances and criteria, but are generally grouped into three categories: at work, in education and at home.

At work

When a UK employer employs a disabled person, as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the employer is responsible for making any "reasonable adjustments", in order to avoid the disabled employee being put at a disadvantage compared to non-disabled colleagues.

The costs of AT are generally covered under this legislation. However, how the AT is funded differs from employer to employer. Some may choose to fund the AT themselves and others may seek funding from the government's Access to Work scheme via JobCentre Plus.

More details on the Access to Work scheme can be found at the Access to Work section of the GOV.UK website.

In education

Government funding for AT in education operates differently in schools, further education institutions and higher education institutions.

Schools

Funding options vary dependent on the type of school, local education authority (LEA) and the child’s special educational needs (SEN) status.

The first points of contact should be the school's special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) or the LEA.

More details about provisions for children with special educational needs in schools can be found at the special educational needs section of the GOV.UK website.

Further education

Further education institutions in England and Wales receive government funding for costs of providing additional support to disabled students. These funds may be used to provide AT for disabled students.

The first point of contact should be the further education institution's additional learning support adviser.

Higher education

Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) are available to all eligible undergraduate students and some postgraduate students in England and Wales.

DSA helps to meet the additional education costs directly resulting from a disability, as defined in the Equality Act, with the aim of helping disabled students study on an equal basis with other students. DSA funding is available from LEAs.

More details on the Disabled Students Allowances can be found at the Disabled Students Allowances section of the GOV.UK website.

At home

From January 2011, the UK Government's Home Access Scheme, which was the only source of public funding for Accessible ICT and AT for Disabled People in their personal lives, has reached its quota and has now closed.

We will post updates about any new Government schemes that are put in place as soon as information becomes available.