More than a million young people aged 16 to 24 in England were not in education, employment or training at the start of this year, one in eight of that age group. A new report from the British Dyslexia Association asks a question nobody can currently answer: how many of them are dyslexic?
A pathway interrupted, published this month with M·E·L Research, surveyed 257 dyslexic young people in England and interviewed young adults aged 18 to 24 who were out of education, work and training. What it describes is not a problem that begins at the school gates on the last day of Year 11. It begins years earlier.
Diagnosis comes late, or not at all. Only one in three of those surveyed (32%) were diagnosed during primary school, while 57% waited until secondary school or later. Every young person in the study who was not in education, employment or training had had their dyslexia identified late or missed entirely.
Support was thin even where dyslexia was known about. 64% said their dyslexia was not well supported at primary school, and 58% said the same of secondary school. More than half (54%) felt teachers did not understand dyslexia. Four in five said the curriculum did not suit the way dyslexic pupils learn, and 83% said assessments put them at a disadvantage.
That shows up in results, and results decide what comes next. In 2024/25 only two in ten pupils with dyslexia reached grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths, against five in ten of pupils with no identified special educational need. Almost a third of the young people surveyed (29%) said they did not have the qualifications needed to apply for the courses or apprenticeships they wanted, rising to 67% among those who were not in education, employment or training. As one young person, Ella, put it: "I'm trying to get into uni too, but it's impossible as I have no GCSEs."
The cost is not only academic. Three quarters of respondents (76%) said dyslexia had negatively affected their self-esteem and mental health, and that figure rose among those who felt their school experience had narrowed their options.
Then comes the last step, and the steepest. Only one in three felt their school had prepared them well for getting a job, while 61% said they had been prepared poorly. Among those not in education, employment or training, just 6% felt prepared for succeeding in the workplace. The applications themselves are a barrier too: 81% find job adverts hard to read, 87% find application forms and cover letters hard to complete, and 87% believe the process puts dyslexic people at a disadvantage.
Asked what would make the biggest difference, the young people were clear. Better identification and diagnosis of dyslexia in schools came top, chosen by 55% among their three priorities and named by 51% as the single most important change of all.
What this means for families
Read backwards, this report is really about primary school. The young people who ended up furthest from work were not less able than their classmates. They were the ones whose difficulties were noticed late, supported thinly, and then measured by exams that suited them least. Every one of those steps is easier to change early than to repair at 19. If reading, spelling or writing stamina is a worry for your child now, that is the moment worth acting on, long before anyone is filling in an application form.