A dyslexia diagnostic assessment costs £690 in the UK if you go through the British Dyslexia Association. That fact sits unanswered in people's heads for months before they Google it. Below are 5 more questions in the same position.

UK and US law differ on several points. Where they do, both are covered.

Q1: How much does a dyslexia assessment cost in the UK?

The British Dyslexia Association charges £575 + VAT (£690 total) for an assessment with a specialist teacher, or £735 + VAT (£882 total) with a psychologist, as of June 2026 (BDA assessments page, June 2026). The wider market runs from around £350 to £882, depending on assessor type and location (Patoss, 2024).

Neither the NHS nor Access to Work covers a diagnostic assessment directly. Dyslexia is not classed as a medical condition, so there's no NHS referral route for adults seeking a diagnosis for employment purposes.

But here's the distinction that matters for most employed adults: if you want adjustments in place at work, you probably need a workplace needs assessment, not a diagnostic assessment. These are two different things. A workplace needs assessment identifies the adjustments your specific job requires and is funded in full by Access to Work (see Q6 below). A diagnostic assessment confirms dyslexia, which you'd need for university documentation, ADA paperwork in the US, or if you want an official certificate. Only one of those routes costs you £690 out of pocket.

The BDA does offer bursaries to individuals who can't afford assessment costs, though availability is limited. Check the BDA website for current bursary status before paying privately.

If you're employed and your goal is getting adjustments sorted, apply for a workplace needs assessment via Access to Work first. It costs you nothing and produces the report that justifies your equipment. Reserve the £690 diagnostic assessment for situations where the certificate itself is the requirement.

Q2: What is the Access to Work Tech Fund?

A new government scheme, announced in 2026, that covers 100% of assistive technology costs for employees who have been in post for under 6 weeks (DWP/British Dyslexia Association, 2026).

The change matters because the old system required employers with more than 50 staff to pay a 20% co-payment on hardware costs. That employer contribution is waived under the Tech Fund for new employees. The employer pays nothing; Access to Work covers the full bill.

Beyond the first 6 weeks, the standard Access to Work rules apply: smaller employers (under 50 staff) continue to receive 100% coverage regardless, and the Tech Fund applies only to that critical first window. The overall Access to Work annual grant cap is £69,260 (National Audit Office, February 2026).

100%

The Access to Work Tech Fund covers 100% of assistive technology costs for employees under 6 weeks in post, eliminating the employer co-payment previously required from medium and large organisations. Source: DWP/British Dyslexia Association (2026).

The practical implication: if you're starting a new role and you know you'll need software like text-to-speech or dictation tools, the first 6 weeks are the best window to get them covered in full, regardless of how large your employer is.

One catch. Access to Work applications currently take longer than the DWP's 25-day target. Average processing hit 109 days in late 2025 (National Audit Office, February 2026), with 66,749 applications awaiting decision as of February 2026. Apply as early as possible, ideally before your start date. The Access to Work calculator helps you estimate your award so you know what you're asking for before you apply.

If you're newly employed (under 6 weeks in post), apply for Access to Work now. The Tech Fund makes this the best-value window for getting your assistive tech funded, and the backlog means every week you delay is a week you're waiting without support.

Q3: What reasonable adjustments can I ask for with dyslexia at work?

The short answer: adjustments that target the specific tasks your dyslexia affects. Adjustments are not one-size-fits-all, and the list below is a starting point, not a template you hand to HR verbatim.

The most commonly approved adjustments fall into four areas:

  • Format and delivery: written meeting agendas sent in advance, written summaries after verbal briefings, written instructions alongside any verbal ones.
  • Time: extra time allocated for written tasks, proof-reading as a scheduled part of the workload rather than done silently on top of it.
  • Technology: text-to-speech software (Speechify, Read&Write), dictation tools (Dragon Professional), Microsoft Immersive Reader if you're on M365 (free, built into Teams and Word).
  • Process: permission to use notes in meetings without it being flagged as a performance concern, not being put on the spot to read aloud, printed documents rather than on-screen reading where possible.

You don't need a formal diagnosis to make these requests in the UK. The duty to make reasonable adjustments is triggered when your employer knows about your dyslexia, not when they see a certificate (Equality Act 2010, s.20–21).

If you're not sure where to start or how to frame the conversation, the reasonable adjustments builder takes your specific daily challenges and produces a draft email and talking points in about two minutes.

Start with the adjustment that removes your single biggest daily drain, not a list of everything at once. One well-framed request is more likely to be agreed and implemented than five submitted together.

Q4: Can my employer sack me for making mistakes because of my dyslexia?

Not without first making reasonable adjustments. The law on this is clear in both the UK and the US.

Under the Equality Act 2010 (UK), once your employer knows about your dyslexia, they're required to make adjustments before they assess or penalise your performance. Treating you as a conduct or capability problem for effects of your dyslexia, without having first adjusted for it, is disability discrimination under s.15 (discrimination arising from disability) and s.21 (failure to make reasonable adjustments).

The M&S tribunal (Jandu v Marks and Spencer, 2022) established the principle in a redundancy scoring context: M&S scored a dyslexic employee on "email quality" and "communication tone" without adjusting for her dyslexia. The tribunal awarded £53,855. The key point from the judgment: the adjustment needed would have cost M&S nothing. It was simply not penalising someone for effects of their disability.

£53,855

The tribunal award in Jandu v Marks and Spencer (2022) after the employer failed to adjust performance scoring for a dyslexic employee. The adjustment required would have cost the employer nothing.

In the US, the ADA requires the employer to engage in an "interactive process" with you before taking any formal performance action. Skipping that step and moving straight to discipline is a separate ADA violation, independent of whether the dismissal itself was justified.

If you're in a performance process now, the 'attention to detail' appraisal article covers 4 specific responses depending on where you are in the process.

The moment a performance conversation starts, disclose your dyslexia in writing if you haven't already. The duty to adjust is triggered by knowledge. Without that written disclosure on record, your employer can argue they didn't know.

Q5: Does dyslexia count as a disability under the ADA?

Yes. The ADA Amendments Act 2008 (ADAAA) deliberately expanded the definition of disability to include conditions like dyslexia. The legal test is whether the condition substantially limits a major life activity, and dyslexia substantially limits reading and learning. That's not a borderline case.

The ADAAA added a rule that matters especially for dyslexic employees: disability status must be assessed without considering any compensating measures. So even if you've built strong coping strategies over 20 years of work, the employer cannot use those strategies as a reason to deny that you have a disability. The unmitigated effect is what counts.

EEOC data shows 1,345 disability discrimination charges specifically citing learning disabilities were filed in FY2023 (EEOC, January 2024). The trend is upward. Ogletree Deakins analysis of EEOC data found neurodivergence-related charges have risen substantially in recent years, and enforcement activity has followed.

Some employers still push back, either saying the employee "seems fine" or that the role doesn't require the affected activities. Both arguments fail under ADAAA. If you're encountering this, the EEOC's guidance document on learning disabilities is the clearest written rebuttal available (eeoc.gov).

If you're in the US and your employer is questioning whether dyslexia qualifies, request the reasonable accommodation process in writing and cite ADAAA. Put the employer in a position where their refusal is documented.

Q6: What is a workplace needs assessment for dyslexia, and who pays?

A workplace needs assessment is separate from a diagnostic assessment. A diagnostic assessment confirms you have dyslexia. A workplace needs assessment takes that as a given (or works from your self-disclosure) and focuses on your specific job: what tasks are affected, what equipment and adjustments would help, and what the employer needs to put in place.

A specialist, typically an occupational psychologist, AT (assistive technology) consultant, or qualified dyslexia coach, reviews your role in detail. They might observe you working, review your tasks and environment, and interview you and sometimes your manager. The output is a formal written report listing recommended adjustments and tools, with justification for each.

In the UK: Access to Work funds the workplace needs assessment in full. You pay nothing. The report then feeds directly into your AtW grant application, which covers the recommended tools and software. The process also carries more weight with employers than a self-written list of requests, because the recommendations come from an external specialist.

The average AtW processing time hit 109 days in late 2025 (National Audit Office, February 2026), so timing your application matters. Request the workplace needs assessment as early in your employment as possible, not after problems have been running for six months.

In the US, vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs fund workplace assessments in some states. Availability and scope vary considerably. Check your state's VR office, or ask the Job Accommodation Network at askjan.org for guidance on what's available in your location.

Before you buy any assistive technology yourself, apply for Access to Work and ask specifically for a workplace needs assessment as part of your application. The assessment identifies the right tools; AtW then pays for them. You get a formal report that carries legal weight, at zero cost to you.