34% against 55%: the employment gap an expert panel has been asked to close
What happened
On 2 October 2026, the government published the report and recommendations of the Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity. The panel was set up in January 2025 to advise ministers, and is chaired by Professor Amanda Kirby. Its job was to look at what actually helps neurodivergent people get and keep work. Neurodivergent is an umbrella term. It covers conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, among others. The word is used because these are differences in how a brain processes information, not illnesses. The panel's headline recommendation is a shift in approach. It says support should be tailored to what an individual actually needs, rather than organised around which diagnosis they happen to have. It also recommends strengthening existing disability employment policies, doing more research into what works, and designing workplaces using Universal Design principles from the outset rather than adapting them afterwards. Universal Design means building something so that as many people as possible can use it without needing a special adjustment. A step-free entrance is the familiar physical example. In an office it might mean quieter spaces, clear written instructions and predictable routines as standard. The report comes with figures on where things currently stand. In 2024/25, only 34 per cent of disabled people with autism were in employment, compared with 55 per cent of all disabled people. It also sets out what is being done. By the end of June 2026, 1,000 people on the specialist pathway of the Connect to Work scheme had entered employment, including 470 young people. Nearly 500 extra Access to Work staff are being recruited, and 1,000 Pathways to Work advisers deployed. The government points to £3.5 billion of disability employment investment by the end of the decade. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "When we get the right support in place, neurodivergent people thrive at work." Professor Amanda Kirby said: "Neurodivergent people have enormous talent to offer the economy, yet too often that talent goes untapped because support hasn't matched their needs".
Why this matters
The 34 per cent figure is the part to sit with. Fewer than four in ten autistic disabled people were in work, against more than half of disabled people as a whole. That is a gap within a gap. It matters first for the individuals and families involved. Work is not only income. It is routine, purpose, colleagues and independence. Being locked out of it for decades is a serious thing. It matters for employers too, and this is where the panel's framing is useful. The report does not say neurodivergent people need lowering standards. It says the support has not matched the need. Those are very different claims. Plenty of employers have lost good people because of a recruitment process or an office environment, not because of the work itself. There is a particular point here for parents and for schools. Diagnosis rates for autism and ADHD have risen sharply, and a great deal of attention goes into getting a diagnosis. The panel's recommendation cuts across that: it argues support should follow need rather than label. For a young person leaving school or college, that is a more hopeful message than waiting years for an assessment before anything can change. And it matters for the wider argument about work and health. The UK is trying hard to help more people with health conditions into employment. If a large group is being missed because support is organised around diagnosis rather than need, that is a fixable problem.
What the evidence actually says
This is a set of recommendations from an advisory panel. It is not a change in the law, and not a new entitlement. That is worth saying plainly, because reports like this can read as though something has already happened. The panel has advised; the government has welcomed the advice. What follows will depend on what is implemented. The 34 per cent and 55 per cent figures come from 2024/25 official statistics. They describe a real and large gap. One caution: employment rates for autistic people are sensitive to how the question is asked and who identifies as disabled, so different surveys produce somewhat different numbers. The direction of the gap, however, is consistent across sources. The 1,000 people who entered work through Connect to Work's specialist pathway by June 2026, including 470 young people, is a concrete figure and a positive one. It is also small relative to the scale of the problem. Treat it as evidence the approach can work, not as evidence it is working at scale. The £3.5 billion figure covers disability employment investment to the end of the decade, across many programmes. It is not money specifically for neurodivergent people. On the substance, the panel's central recommendation has reasonable support behind it. Needs vary enormously within any single diagnosis, and two people with the same label can require almost nothing in common. Research on workplace adjustments has repeatedly found that cheap, specific changes, such as flexible hours, written instructions, quieter space and clearer expectations, help far more than expensive generic schemes. The Universal Design recommendation is sensible and also harder than it sounds. Designing in from the start costs little; retrofitting an established workplace costs more and meets more resistance. So: a credible diagnosis of the problem, a sensible prescription, and no guarantee yet that it will be taken.
Practical advice
If this affects you or someone in your family, here are the practical routes that already exist. You do not need a diagnosis to ask for a reasonable adjustment at work. Under the Equality Act 2010, the duty applies if you meet the definition of disabled, and evidence from a GP or occupational health can support a request. Many useful adjustments cost nothing. Look at Access to Work. It is a government scheme that can fund equipment, support workers, travel costs and assessments for people who need help to do a job. It is open to employees and to self-employed people. You apply yourself; you do not need your employer to apply for you. Be specific when you ask. "I find open-plan offices hard" is harder to act on than "I would like to work in the quiet room on the days I am writing reports, and to be given written as well as verbal briefs." Specific requests get said yes to more often. If you are a young person leaving school or college, ask about supported employment and about Connect to Work in your area. Your local authority or Jobcentre can point you to what is running locally. If you are an employer, start with the cheap things. Share interview questions in advance. Say what the interview will involve and who will be there. Allow written applications as well as spoken interviews. Let people work in a quieter space. These are small changes that widen your pool of applicants considerably. And for anyone struggling at work right now: speak to your GP or occupational health service before things reach crisis point. Adjustments made early keep people in jobs.
What to know
The Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity, chaired by Professor Amanda Kirby, published its report and recommendations on 2 October 2026. The panel was set up in January 2025. Its main recommendation is that employment support should be tailored to individual needs rather than organised around a diagnosis. It also calls for stronger existing disability employment policies, more research, and Universal Design principles applied to workplaces from the start. In 2024/25, 34 per cent of disabled people with autism were in employment, against 55 per cent of all disabled people. By the end of June 2026, 1,000 people on Connect to Work's specialist pathway had entered employment, including 470 young people. Nearly 500 additional Access to Work staff are being recruited and 1,000 Pathways to Work advisers deployed, within £3.5 billion of disability employment investment to the end of the decade. This is advice to government, not a change in the law. Existing rights to reasonable adjustments, and the Access to Work scheme, are available now. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, "New report backs government action to help neurodivergent people succeed at work", GOV.UK, 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-report-backs-government-action-to-help-neurodivergent-people-succeed-at-work ; Access to Work, GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work ; GOV.UK news and communications, 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/search/news-and-communications This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist, occupational health professional or other qualified healthcare professional. For advice about your employment rights, Citizens Advice and ACAS both offer free guidance.
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