Access to Work

How to apply for Access to Work, step by step

You apply for Access to Work online through gov.uk (or by phone on 0800 121 7479), describing how your condition affects your work and what support would help. Many applications then get a workplace needs assessment call, the assessor recommends support, and the award letter confirms what is funded. You do not need a diagnosis letter, you do not need your employer's permission to apply, and preparing a barrier-by-barrier ask list before you start is the single highest-leverage step.

Information only, not benefits advice. Application route and requirements from gov.uk, Access to Work: how to apply, checked 19 July 2026. Apply online: get-disability-work-support.service.gov.uk.

The five steps

1. 1

   Prepare the short list of facts

   You need: contact details, workplace address, your National Insurance number if you have it to hand, a workplace contact if you are employed, and your Unique Taxpayer Reference if self-employed. More importantly, prepare your barriers-and-asks list: what your ADHD stops or slows at work, and the support that would remove each barrier.

2. 2

   Apply online (or by phone)

   The online application is the fastest route and is a short form, not an essay: the barrier descriptions from step 1 are most of the work. If forms are a barrier, apply by phone on 0800 121 7479 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) and say verbally what you would have written. Relay UK and BSL video relay are available.

3. 3

   Describe how ADHD affects your work, barrier by barrier

   This is the part that determines everything downstream. Do not write "I have ADHD and struggle at work". Write one line per barrier: what happens, how often, what it costs in time or errors, and what support would remove it. Executive function, admin, meetings, documents, noise, travel, burnout: cover each that genuinely applies.

4. 4

   The assessment call

   Many applications get a workplace needs assessment: a phone or video conversation where an assessor matches your barriers to support. It is a conversation, not a test, and nobody is checking whether you are "disabled enough". Have your ask list open, raise every item on it, and remember that looking like you cope is not evidence you do not need support: systems you built to survive are evidence of need.

5. 5

   Review the recommendations, then the award letter

   The assessor writes a report recommending support. Ask to see it and check nothing you raised is missing; you can go back to the case manager to add things before the decision. The award letter then sets out what is funded, for how long, and how to claim. From there it is the claim cycle: keep receipts, claim promptly.

What actually happens after you apply (the current process)

From recent claimants' correspondence with the scheme, the post-application sequence currently runs like this. A DWP case manager refers you to the assessment provider (Reed in Partnership at the time of writing). The provider then contacts you within two working days, by SMS, phone or email, and the call can show as a withheld number, so answer the unknowns that week: if they cannot book you by 4pm on day two, the referral is cancelled and returned to Access to Work. You are offered up to five appointment slots; be as flexible as you can, because declining all five also cancels the referral.

There is then a short welcome call, followed by the assessment itself (a "holistic assessment", by video call for most people). Afterwards the assessor sends a report to your DWP case manager, who contacts you to discuss the recommendations and what funding will be available, then sends the report, your award notice and claim forms. Two expectations to set: the report's recommendations are not guaranteed to be funded, the case manager decides what the scheme covers; and for most support you then pay and claim back with receipts rather than receiving money up front, so plan for the cash-flow gap.

The ADHD-practical takeaway: the two-working-day contact window and the five-slot rule are exactly the kind of tight, phone-based hoops ADHD makes hard. Set alarms the day you are told a referral has gone in, and if calls are a barrier, tell both the case manager and the provider in advance.

The timeline, honestly

The scheme is in a publicised backlog: the National Audit Office reported average processing rising from 28 days in 2020/21 to 66 days in 2024/25, and to 109 days by November 2025, and Parliament's Public Accounts Committee reported 66,700 applications outstanding by February 2026, with extra staff recruited in response. None of that is a reason not to apply; it is a reason to apply now rather than when you are already drowning. The published numbers, each with its source, are on our Access to Work delays tracker.

Related

• What can Access to Work pay for?
• Self-employed? The rules that differ
• How much is the grant and how is it paid?

Frequently asked questions