Our student blogger Iga talks through her own experiences and describes the support available for other dyslexic students at university.
Updated: 29 Apr 2025Do you have dyslexia or another disability that’s making you nervous about starting university?
Firstly, don’t let it stop you going. There are people who will help you, so you don’t have to feel ashamed or nervous. It’s okay to have a disability and it’s okay to let your university know.
At the age of 16 when I moved to England – going straight into A-levels and writing a lot of essays and coursework – my teachers discovered that I had dyslexia. My fear was always reading out loud in the front of the class because sometimes I was unable to pronounce some of the “old” English words, especially in my history class. When I was reading silently I had to re-read things at least twice to understand what I was actually reading about. They also discovered that my reading and writing speed was a lot slower than average. Later on, I found out that dyslexia actually runs in my family and there are many different types of it.
I always knew I was going to go to university – there was never a doubt about that – but with barely passing my A-levels I was so scared to even apply; at that point I didn’t have any confidence in myself.
I wanted to study journalism. I knew I was going to have to work twice as harder as other students, but with the help from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) and the university, I built up confidence in myself again. So what that I had dyslexia? Yes, I was going to have to work harder, but I knew nothing could stop me. And it paid off. When I received my grades at the end of my first year I was one point away from a first, which was a huge surprise. So whoever says it’s not worth going to university if you have a disability is absolutely wrong.
There are many students like me who are scared to start uni with a disability.
Emily, who we spoke to when she about to start her foundation year, was a bit nervous because of her dyslexia. “It’s going to take longer for me to do simple tasks and understand everything compared to other students,” she said. “However, student finance has helped me out loads already and I’m getting a lot of equipment for free to help with my needs. I’m also getting one-on-one support each week.”
Tasha, a second year student, had a slightly different experience. “I was so nervous to start university,” she said. “At first I started with a film course, and even though they were dyslexia friendly, I found it difficult to understand the wording in film, so I moved on to magazine journalism. The university is very good to me; I receive a lot of one-to-one sessions where they read through my work and check spelling and grammar, which helped a lot during my first year.”
1. Let all your tutors know
2. Ask your tutors if they could print out PowerPoint notes for you
3. Get you tutors’ permission to record lectures so you can go back and listen to them
4. Ask your tutors to read over your work
5. Let your tutor know if you don’t understand something, they'll explain it better
1. Specialist equipment, such as computer software, laptop, scanner, printer, etc.
2. Non-Medical Helper Allowance, which includes one-to-one specialist support and a note-taker or a reader from your university
3. General Allowance including up to £250 photocopying/printer consumables/non-core textbooks per academic year, as well as up to £150 internet costs per academic year
4. Any extra travel costs you have to pay because of your disability