No DSA appointments available

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Just wondering if anyone has any experience of trying to make a DSA appointment (in Scotland if that makes a difference) to be told there are no appointments left. Is there anything my.child can do? They really need the support in place before they start university. No solutions have been offered by the university

There can’t be no appointments left for the rest of the year, ask them when appointments will become available.

that said you’ve left it very late - it’s unlikely things will be in place for her starting.

You could try a different centre, not at her uni?

It was a while ago we tried to book but still no appointments are available. I don't think there is an option to try somewhere else? It seems it has to go through the uni. There are no appointments available for the coming year

My DD had her assessment online.

As far as I know the uni were not involved at that stage.

Her assessment was in about March for. N October start though.

Hi, OP -

Like @Bunnyannesummers I work in a university. No appointments available for the coming year? This is incredible. Without wishing to doubt you, I have never heard of such a thing.

May I ask gently if you know this for a fact? If your DC is taking the lead, which is generally recommended, is there a possibility that they’ve got something muddled? Or even - and I ask on the basis of experience with a personal tutee and their parent - that they do not wish to pursue the disabilities aspect and are saying whatever they can think of to get you to drop it?

(My own view is that taking full advantage of Disability Services merely levels the playing field, but that is for another time)

If your facts are correct this is appalling. If you name the uni perhaps someone can help.

Please could you clarify what you mean by DSA appointment? Are you wanting to book a DSA needs assessment or contact your child’s university about the support they offer?

My child is quite distressed at the fact there are no appointments available. It is Edinburgh University. It is a DSA needs assessment. They opened up the booking to her but when she went to book a slot there were none available for the coming year (I saw this with my own eyes) I got her to email them (I worded the email for her) and I saw the reply which basically said they have no appointments left at all and she will be put on a waiting list for cancelled appointments. Doesn't seem good enough to me!

Edited to add:
Just wondering if anyone can offer any help of where to escalate this to? I think it might be a different set.up to England, not sure if it is the same as Wales and NI or not

I think the set up is different for DSA in Scotland which is why it seems unfathomable to those of us with experience outwith Scotland where there are multiple providers of assessment and online options which means you don't generally need to wait long.

Hopefully she won't have to wait long 🤞🏽

I hadn't realised it was different until we started the process. Seems a strange way of doing it and also feels like the unis need to create more appointments if they run out. I will see if I can find a number to call someone directly linked to DSA to see if there's an alternative option

You don’t have to do it at the University - https://www.saas.gov.uk/files/402/saas-dsa-notes.pdf#page6

Page 9 under assessment of needs, so you need to contact SAAS for an alternative, and you need to do it as soon as possible. Scotland doesn’t seem to share timelines in the way England does, but you’d have no chance of support being in place for the first day of semester here, I can’t imagine it’s dramatically faster in Scotland - you’re looking at more like the end of September. So also start thinking about how she’ll manage in the meantime.

Separate to DSA is the support offered direct by the uni. Link here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-disability-service/students

Looks like she needs to request an appointment with the team, and provide some evidence. But in the meantime she can read about the support available and start to consider if she’d benefit from it/what she would benefit from.

I am so sorry, OP.

I am in England and don’t know how the Scottish system works, but this sounds like a a dereliction in the duty of care. I am shocked that it is Edinburgh.

Possibly the root problem is a shortage of staff, as with sufficient staff DSA would surely be adding the necessary appts. I am glad you are advocating for your DC on this

I heartily second @Bunnyannesummers ’s recommendation to utilise Disability Sevices at uni, independently of the DSA issue.

We have managed to put university specific support in place luckily so at least that is something.
Thank you to everyone for your replies

I thought DSA was totally separate to the uni involved? My DDs appointment (London) is next week and I think she booked it last month (after nagging her to read her bloody emails). The uni itself (Durham) has sent her its own form asking about her needs.