Equality Act definition of disability applied before any analysis on impact

BIS instructed the Student Loan Company to apply the Equality Act definition of disability to DSA applicants before analysing the impact if that change in the eligibility criteria. The Student Loan Company themselves did not investigate because the instruction came from the overseeing government department. All this was confirmed via a Freedom of information request. Furthermore, the SLC application forms for DSA did not note the change which meant that students and their advisers did not know that SLC required the evidence to confirm physical or mental impairment having a substantial and long terms substantial and adverse effects on the activities of daily living. According to a later Equality Analysis, this change of eligibility criteria did not affect disabled people. However, assessment centres and university disability advisers met with students who had previously been given DSA eligibility and who had applied for another course and had their medical evidence declined. An example from my own experience - fibromyalgia evidence accepted at undergraduate level but declined for PGCE. These examples proved that students were affected by the change because they suddenly became illegible for support using evidence that had previously been accepted.