Is dyslexia a disability under the Equality Act?

Usually yes: dyslexia is a disability under the Equality Act 2010 if it has a substantial, long-term adverse effect on everyday activities. This is not automatic but assessed case by case, and no diagnosis is needed. For you as the employer, that means the moment someone discloses dyslexia or asks for support, you should treat it as potentially engaging your legal duties and work out the answer properly rather than assume one way or the other.

The test that decides it

Under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Dyslexia is not named in the Act and is not on the short list of conditions that count automatically (cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis are deemed a disability from diagnosis). It qualifies only by meeting that same test, judged on the person in front of you. Substantial means more than minor or trivial, and long-term means it has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months. Acas puts it simply: look at how the condition affects someone, not at the label. So one employee's dyslexia may clearly qualify while another's, well-supported and causing little daily difficulty, may not.

A formal diagnosis is not the trigger

This is the point top results bury. The section 6 test asks whether an impairment has a substantial, long-term adverse effect, not whether it has been formally diagnosed, so protection turns on the effect, not on a clinical label. Acas makes the same point: look at how the condition affects someone rather than what it is called or whether it has been assessed. So "they have never been assessed" or "it is self-reported" is not a lawful reason to refuse to consider adjustments. You also cannot wait to be told in so many words: you can be liable where you knew, or could reasonably be expected to know, of the disability. If the signs are in front of a manager (someone struggling with written instructions or timed tasks), the duty can already be live.

What it means once the duty is engaged

Where the employee is disabled within the meaning of the Act, sections 20 and 21 put you under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove the substantial disadvantage they face at work. Two things worth being clear on:

• The duty is yours, not theirs. The employer arranges and pays for the adjustment, such as text-to-speech software, written notes to back up verbal instructions, or extra time on assessments.
• It applies to applicants too. Under section 39 the duty and the ban on disability discrimination cover recruitment, not just current staff, so the same thinking applies at interview and testing stages.

Get this wrong and you risk a failure-to-make-adjustments claim or a claim for discrimination arising from disability, both of which commonly start with a manager reacting to a dyslexia-linked difficulty before checking whether a duty applies.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.