Access to Work: 480 caseworkers hired. The wait: 37 weeks.

If you applied for Access to Work today, the DWP would tell you to expect a decision in up to 37 weeks. That's what advisers are currently telling new applicants, according to evidence given to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), published 12 June 2026.

The government's response was announced on 19 May 2026: 480 new caseworkers and case managers, a 72% increase to the 658-strong workforce already handling claims. The target is to clear the backlog by September 2027. That's more than 15 months from today.

So the fix is real and confirmed. But it's also a long way off. If you need Access to Work support to do your job, you can't hold off on applying or requesting workplace adjustments while you wait for September 2027 to arrive. The scheme's mechanics haven't changed. What has changed is the political pressure bearing down on the DWP to move faster.

What 480 caseworkers actually means in practice

As of March 2026, 66,000 applications were waiting for a decision, up from 21,700 four years earlier (PAC report, June 2026). The applications more than doubled since 2018-19. The DWP's own processing target is 25 days. The average is 106 working days.

The new staff will receive training to handle complex applications. The DWP said in May 2026 that it has already eliminated payment delays and that 96% of urgent start-date cases are decided within 28 days. But the backlog of non-urgent cases is where the weight sits.

The PAC is the parliamentary committee that scrutinises government spending. Its June 2026 report used the word "unacceptable" to describe the delays. Deputy chair Clive Betts MP said the backlog is "actively causing employers to hire fewer disabled people." That's a formal finding, not an advocacy claim.

The PAC also noted the DWP has "little evidence on whether the scheme provides value for money." That doesn't put your claim at risk. But it does mean the scheme is now under a level of parliamentary scrutiny it hasn't faced before, which gives individual applicants more grounds to push back on poor decisions.

The fix is underway but won't land until late 2027. Apply now and apply correctly rather than waiting for the queue to clear. Every month you delay your application is a month without funded support.

The urgent-cases exception: the one lever that actually works

There is one part of the system that functions close to its target. Cases where an applicant has a confirmed job start date within four weeks are flagged as urgent by the DWP. Of those urgent cases, 96% are decided within 28 days (DWP press release, GOV.UK, 19 May 2026).

That's 28 days, not 37 weeks. The difference is enormous.

To trigger this, two things need to happen. First, state your start date clearly on the application form itself. Second, call the Access to Work line on 0800 121 7479 after submitting and confirm the date has been noted. Advisers manually flag applications for expedited processing; a phone confirmation makes sure yours doesn't fall through.

If you've already applied and your situation has changed (a new job offer, a promotion, a role change with new demands), call to update your case file. A new start date can retroactively change your priority level.

The Tech Fund is a separate mechanism worth knowing about. If you're in the first six weeks of a new job, the Access to Work Tech Fund covers 100% of assistive technology costs with no employer co-contribution required. That's text-to-speech software, speech recognition tools, screen readers: the lot. It's a separate funding stream not counted against the standard annual grant cap. But it closes after week six, so the timing matters.

Starting a new job? State the start date on your application and call to confirm. That single step puts your case on a 28-day track instead of a 37-week one.

Your employer's duty doesn't wait for Access to Work

The most common mistake dyslexic employees make when applying for Access to Work is treating it as a prerequisite for requesting adjustments from their employer. It isn't.

Your employer's duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 is entirely separate from the Access to Work scheme. The duty arises the moment your employer knows, or ought reasonably to know, about your disability. An Access to Work application that's pending for 37 weeks doesn't pause that clock.

Adjustments that cost nothing (written instructions instead of verbal ones, meeting agendas sent 24 hours in advance, extra time to review documents before discussions) can be in place within days of a formal written request. Your employer can't hold these off because the DWP hasn't processed your application yet.

For adjustments that do carry a cost, your employer and Access to Work can share it, or Access to Work can cover it entirely. But requesting the adjustment from your employer now, in writing, means you start building the paper trail that protects you if the employer later claims they didn't know what you needed.

If you're not sure which adjustments to ask for, or how to frame the request, the reasonable adjustments builder turns your specific challenges into a draft email and conversation plan. You can have something ready to send today.

The employer's obligation under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 covers both physical changes and changes to how work is organised, including provisions, criteria, and practices. All three apply to the kinds of adjustments that help dyslexic employees: format of written communication, time given to complete tasks, how meetings are run.

Send your employer a written adjustments request this week, separate from your Access to Work application. The two run in parallel. You don't need AtW approval to start the conversation with your employer.

What the PAC report means for your claim

The PAC published its formal report on 12 June 2026, just three weeks after the DWP announced the 480 new caseworkers. The timing matters: parliament scrutinised the hiring announcement and found it insufficient on its own.

The report made several specific demands of the DWP. The department must publish monthly key performance data, including average processing times. It must develop and publish a plan to clear the backlog and reduce processing times. It must "urgently engage" with scheme users to identify administrative failures beyond delays.

What this means practically: the DWP is now accountable to parliament in a way that creates paper for applicants to use. If the DWP is required to publish monthly processing data, that data becomes evidence in formal complaints.

If your application has been waiting more than six months and you've had no substantive contact from the DWP, writing to your MP is now a formally recognized escalation route. Not because MPs can override the DWP, but because the PAC inquiry put the backlog on the official record and MPs can raise individual cases with the Work and Pensions Secretary directly.

The complaints route also remains open. The DWP complaints procedure (via gov.uk) leads to the Independent Case Examiner if the complaint isn't resolved. The ICE has binding authority. The Access to Work Collective, a stakeholder group that submitted evidence to the PAC inquiry, provides peer support to applicants going through this process.

If you've been waiting over six months, write to your MP now. Include your application reference number, the date you applied, and the date you were told to expect a decision. Keep it factual and short.

Three situations, three moves

You haven't applied yet. Apply now. The Access to Work calculator gives you an estimate of what you'd be entitled to before you start. If you have a confirmed start date at a new employer within four weeks, flag it. If your application isn't urgent, expect 106 working days on average; request interim adjustments from your employer in writing this week while you wait.

You've applied and you're in the queue. Check whether your start date has been recorded as urgent if it applies. Call 0800 121 7479 monthly to track your application status. Ask your employer now for the adjustments you need, framed as a separate Equality Act 2010 request. Keep records of every phone call with DWP: date, the name of the adviser, and what was said.

You've been waiting more than six months with no decision. Write to your MP. Use the DWP formal complaints route. If you have a workplace needs assessment from an independent assessor that documents your needs, attach it to every communication. The evidence from the RNID/DeafATW survey published in April 2026 found 32% of applicants waited four months or more, and 8% waited over ten months. You're not alone, and formal escalation does produce results: the DWP reversed a 50% award cut for theatre director Jenny Sealey in April 2026 after her case became public.

One figure from the British Dyslexia Association (January 2024) is worth putting in front of you: only 1 in 10 dyslexic employees eligible for Access to Work has ever applied. The scheme has problems right now. But for most dyslexic employees, those problems are far less costly than never having applied at all.

The guide to challenging an Access to Work rejection covers the reconsideration process in detail if your application was declined rather than delayed.