Just thought I would share this as it has been a steep learning curve for me and I have not seen this information anywhere else. DAs are generally assumed to be a Good Thing but they are a bit outside the main student system and this has given rise to some issues for us.
I'm not commenting on the DA itself as it has not even started yet but so far I have discovered the following:
The degree enrolment takes place outside UCAS so you can't prove you have accepted your offer even after getting exam results. Why? surely this should be treated exactly the same as all other degrees.
This means that when accommodation providers ask you to prove you are a student you can't until university term starts and you are issued with student ID. This is much later than when the apprenticeship starts and the accommodation is needed. Requests for the university to issue a letter beforehand have fallen on deaf ears.
DA students will be barred from a lot of student accommodation because they are not full-time students so you will have to focus on hybrid accommodation. Understandably my DC does not want to live in an HMO but would like to live with other students.
DA students (unless very low paid) have to pay council tax unlike other students.This also causes accommodation problems.
Students are going to want to live near their employer. Check carefully which university they nominate for the DA. Ours is an hour and a half away with no direct train routes.
There is absolutely no support with accommodation for DA students.You will need to go out and sort it yourself even though they are first years.
My DC is keen to do the DA and I support that but I wish I had known and been prepared for the things above. Sharing in the hope it might help someone else in the future.