I was at the national conference of student support a couple of weeks ago
and asked LEA Awards Officers to indicate when they release funding - about
a quarter [more than I expected] said they respond when they receive the
assessment report and recommendations - against DfES guidelines - while most
wait until the place is confirmed [ie usually after A Level results]. Some
said, however, that they wait until the students has begun the course...
So, while we now can assess students earlier, in effect this may only reduce
the amount of time they have to wait for the assessment and may have little
influence on the date at which they are provided with the recommended
equipment. This has very serious implications for some students,
particularly those who need specialist technologies or to develop an
effective working medium, and should have training before they start the
course. For those of you who are following developments with the proposed
new framework for the DSAs, this is one of the issues which will be
discussed through QAG and the Round Table.
Karen Hall
ACCESS Centre Manager
RNC Hereford
|