A level support?

Julia21

Hello
Bit of a sad post. 19 year old Son has recently developed epilepsy and has just failed first year resits at University.

Struggled with relatively new diagnosis, moving away to Uni and settling in - all a bit overwhelming. Lost motivation and basically didn't put hours in for revision etc. 
Uni have said he can resit year but he wants to take a year out, and restart in 2024/25.
During this gap year he wants to do another a level to keep brain ticking over and in case he wants to change courses/Uni and move closer to home where he can be better supported.
Son had DSA at Uni - am just wondering:
- he's cancelled DSA for this year as explained not at Uni; will he have to give laptop back as he's on gap year and would be useful for a level/continued learning and when he goes back next year
- he's not eligible for any DSA funding /support (he did have weekly DSA advisor/counsellor). Is there anything he can apply for whilst at college doing a level?  For example he has no income but needs to get bus/train to college 4 days a week etc.
Thanks in advance.

Jimm_Scope

Hi @Julia21, your situation really resonates with me. I was diagnosed with my Crohn's disease at 19 and struggled to accept it and adapt. That coupled with my then undiagnosed ADHD meant I crashed out of my first year. It was really hard for me to keep going, I think it's amazing that your son is still trying to do something even while taking a year to rest and come to terms with his condition. It took me many years to finally come to terms with my Crohn's.

Regarding the laptop, did he partially pay for it or was it given to him for free? Often with DSA the student pays £200 and funding makes up the rest and they then own the laptop.

Regarding funding I found this page from disabilityrights.co.uk Funding Further Education for Disabled Students | Disability Rights UK.

They go into possible options for bursaries and transport funding. It's quite an extensive advice page that covers a lot of topics, not all may be relevant. For reference when it mentions "Qualification Levels" an A Level is a Level 3 qualification.

Sending my best wishes to yourself and your son. I went through something very similar, it was not easy but I am now very happy with myself and how everything turned out. The main thing I'd look out for are concerns from him about "falling behind (my peers/age group)", it's absolutely fine to be going to university a bit later. When I went back to university I even had someone in their 50s studying on the same course. The important thing is he is improving himself *and* he is taking his health into account.