What is Special Educational Support and who can get it?

Who can receive support?

You are eligible for support if you have, e.g. hearing and vision problems; reading and writing problems (dyslexia); or psychological, neurological, or physical disabilities. To receive Special Educational Support, you must also fulfil the following requirements:

• You must be accepted into a full degree programme,
• You must suffer from an impairment that prevents you from completing your study programme on equal terms with other students.
• You must have formal documentation of your diagnosed disability (for example, a copy of your files from a hospital, doctor, speech therapist, psychologist, or the like. If you are unable to provide documentation of your impairment from an expert, the SPS employees at DTU can apply to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science for funding to obtain documentation.
• You must be covered by an international agreement, be a Danish citizen, or rank alongside a Danish citizen.
• You must be admitted to a study programme at DTU. Please emphasise that you need support when applying for admission to DTU. This way, we can iensure you are granted support as soon as possible.

Impairments for which you can receive support

• literacy problems
• psychological problems
• neurological problems
• physical handicaps
• blind or visually impaired
• deaf-or-hearing-impaired

SPS enquiry portal

As soon as you have been accepted to DTU and you have accepted your admission offer, you can apply for SPS. You will apply through DTU’s SPS enquiry portal, where you will describe your challenges and your needs for support and upload the statement of authorisation and documentation. Then the SPS officers at DTU will either make an SPS application as soon as possible or contact you if needed. Documents for upload cannot be more than 20 MB in total. 

When do I apply?

You must apply in June/July for the autumn semester and in December for the spring semester to benefit fully from the scheme. However, applications for SPS can be submitted all year round.

When will I receive the support?

Following the academic year cycle, SPS is granted every six months from January to June and from July to December. Please note that unused funding cannot be transferred to the next semester.

Some students continuously need support throughout the entire course of study, while others have varying needs. However, everyone is subject to the condition that to be granted additional support for the next semester, they must contact the SPS employees and explain the reason for applying.

IT aids
If you are granted support in the form of IT tools, you must sign a receipt and a 'Statement on the borrowing of aids' when you receive the tools.

How long can I receive support?

SPS can be granted for a period corresponding to the prescribed time frame of your study programme plus 12 months.

However, the total period of support must not exceed 70 months (5.8 years), even if you change study programmes along the way. Nevertheless, it is possible to apply for an extension of the support framework, for instance, if the prescribed time frame of your study programme exceeds 70 months, in the event of illness etc.

What do I do when I no longer need support?

If you have been granted a certain number of hours of support in one or more semesters, but have no need for support in the next semester, then simply do not reapply for assistance.

Should you need support again at a later stage, just contact aus-sps@adm.dtu.dk and submit a new application.

You are only entitled to receive SPS if you are enrolled on a study programme. Therefore, you must notify us if you are leaving or have completed your study programme.

Similarly, if you have borrowed any IT tools, they must be returned if you are leaving and/or have completed your study programme.

Contact

Email aus-sps@adm.dtu.dk