Applying for university 2025 with dyslexia

[StuntNun]

My DS has dyslexia and other associated learning and processing difficulties. He wants to study Software Engineering and is predicted ABB in Maths, Further Maths and Computer Science. Are there any universities that stand out for dyslexia support/accommodations?

Hello, Sussex, Surrey and Reading definitely offer support and contextual offers for dyslexia. Good luck to your DC!

Might also be worth considering degree apprenticeships, there are lots of software engineering ones. If he's interested I'd recommend applying for lots, (start looking around now, although there might not be any for a few more weeks) a good CV with lots of relevant extra curriculars and lots of practicing of the sort of questions they might ask at interview. Competition is pretty fierce though, civil service ones are very good with ND applicants, also JP Morgan IME, a lot of privately educated kids going for JP though.

We really liked Surrey when we visited, seemed really supportive (ex polys seem to be like that IMO) but is also high up in the comp sci league tables. I think it's hugely under rated because it's not RG personally (I'd never even heard of it before!).

Surrey is our local university so I'm already encouraging him to apply there as he would be able to live at home if he wanted to save money and he would be able to keep his weekend/holiday job.

Should have added that to be eligible for contextual offers with dyslexia, you need to be signed up to their access programmes E.g. In2Surrey etc. Each has their own version. Generally, contextual offer criteria does not include dyslexia, unless you have participated in an access programme which occasionally includes it in the criteria (Surrey and Sussex).

If he has a dyslexia diagnosis then he can apply for DSA (Disabled Students Allowance) in the spring once the SFE portal is open for student finance. That will provide software support for the dyslexia. I would consider talking to each unis support teams about what they offer - most offer weekly study skills sessions on top of the extra time etc;

DSA will provide 1:1 Study Skills tuition and assistive technology - note taking software, text to speech software etc
Universities might not offer a lot as really DSA covers it well. Exam arrangements may well be it. They probably won't offer any sort of flexibility in assessment for spelling and grammatical errors as these are now considered a competency at degree level. Some universities do offer automatic extensions to assignments for students with a disability though.

Thank you. I think the assistive technology would be really useful as he's been using something similar in school. I'm sure extra time in exams is possible; my older son gets that for ADHD.