New report backs government action to help neurodivergent people succeed at work

Published today, the Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity's Report and Recommendations sets out how best to support neurodivergent employees to succeed at work.

It notes that greater employment participation has the potential to lessen the burden on the health and welfare systems and boost economic growth.

The report calls for:

• Support that responds to individual strengths and challenges, based on need rather than diagnosis
• Strengthening of existing disability employment policy; and awareness of best practice
• Further research to address gaps in the evidence base;
• Practical, evidence-based strategies to help neurodivergent employees succeed
• Wider adoption of Universal Design principles so workplaces are built with everyone in mind from the outset. Neurodivergent people bring valuable skills and perspectives to the workplace, the report notes and that removing barriers to communication, and environment allow people to do their best work.

The Government is already putting this into practice through Connect to Work, part of the wider £3.5 billion disability employment investment. Its specialist pathway for neurodivergent and learning-disabled people builds support around each person's individual strengths and needs, helping them find roles where they can excel.

Connect to Work is available across England and Wales and will help thousands of neurodivergent and learning-disabled people build careers by the end of the decade. By the end of June, 1,000 people on the specialist Connect to Work pathway for neurodivergent and learning-disabled people had moved into work, with 470 of those young people.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said:

When we get the right support in place, neurodivergent people thrive at work.

That's good for them, good for business and good for the economy. Everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed.

Connect to Work is already proving this approach works, and we'll keep building on it so more neurodivergent people get the tailored support they need to build fulfilling careers.

Neurodiversity Panel Chair 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.

Our report shows that when neurodivergent people get the support they need, everybody benefits: employees find roles where they can excel, businesses gain from different skills and perspectives, and the wider economy grows stronger as more people contribute.

In 2024/25, only 34 percent of all disabled people with autism were in work, in comparison to 55 percent of disabled people overall.

This stark gap resulted in the launch of The Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity in January 2025 to advise the Government on how to help more neurodivergent people build successful careers.

The panel also recommended that, where possible,workplace systems and environments are built for everyone from the outset, rather than relying on adjustments being made for individuals reactively. In response, the Government has launched a sixteen-week policy discovery exercise to look at where these Universal Design principles could be applied to workplaces in future.

Much of this work to fulfil the recommendations is in train already, including:

• Reforms to our Disability Confident Scheme, including removing the option for employers at the entry level to renew at this level to encourage employers to progress up the scheme;
• Nearly 500 additional staff to be recruited to clear inherited backlog in the Access to Work scheme and help people get the support they need quicker;
• The national expansion of WorkWell backed by £259m, helping up to 250,000 people with health conditions to stay in or return to work;
• The deployment of 1,000 Pathways to Work advisers who've already helped over 100,000 people the previous Government wrote off;
• £60 million Pathways to Work Innovation Fund, encouraging businesses and charities to transform how disabled people and those with health conditions are supported into work.

Alongside this, the government has invested in a £2.5 billion youth employment support package, which will create nearly 500,000 jobs and training opportunities to help young people into work.

• Find the Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity Final Report and Recommendations and the Government Response here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/expert-academic-panel-on-neurodiversity-final-report-and-recommendations
• The government will now hold conversations with employers to explore practical, low-cost changes that help neurodivergent employees thrive.
• This response is part of a wider government effort to ensure a fulfilled life for neurodivergent people, within and beyond work.
• The government is also committed to further steps to bring about effective and sustainable welfare reform, and this will be guided by the Milburn and Timms reviews, which are due to conclude later this year.