Former UK Health Secretary Champions Dyslexia Screening for Primary School Pupils

Matt Hancock, the former UK Health Secretary and MP for West Suffolk called for all children to be screened for dyslexia before they leave Primary School in an address to the House of Commons yesterday.

Mr. Hancock, who himself has dyslexia, was not officially diagnosed until he went to Oxford University at the age of eighteen. Writing in UK newspaper The Telegraph yesterday, he has said that he wishes to instigate a ‘Dyslexia Screening Bill’ as he calls on his fellow MPs to back what he calls a ‘vital’ reform to how we identify dyslexia in the UK. The Bill would instigate dyslexia screening for primary school pupils as a universal measure, and champions better teaching and better assessment for pupils who have dyslexia so that they can go on to succeed in education. He launched the bid in parliament yesterday, and has received widespread cross-party support.

In his article, Mr. Hancock also mentioned that this much greater degree of  identification was key to breaking links between low literacy and long-term unemployment and crime. He stated that breaking this cycle was a huge part of helping people with dyslexia find fulfilling futures in the world of work. “Simple early screening and education would go a long way towards helping dyslexics into the workplace and out of the cycle of crime, and be so valuable to those businesses who can make the most of all that potential,” he wrote. “I welcome the new Education Secretary’s recent commitment to a White Paper tackling illiteracy. I will tell my good friend Nadhim Zahawi that we absolutely cannot tackle illiteracy without getting to grips with dyslexia.”

It isn’t the first time even this week that Mr. Hancock has spoken out about dyslexia and the ways that it can change somebody’s lived experience, both in education and going into the world of work. Speaking to the CEO of the British Dyslexia Association Gillian Ashley in a Political Sandbox video for Chamber UK released on Monday, he opened up about his experiences as a dyslexic cabinet minister and how he would like to improve the system for the approximately 6.3 million people in the UK who live with dyslexia every day.

In his article for The Telegraph, Mr. Hancock also spoke candidly about the reality of living with dyslexia, and how having dyslexia and associated literacy differences can drastically affect life chances of the people who have it if it isn’t identified and supported.

“Everyone has a contribution to make, and it’s our job in politics to help people make it. But the system holds dyslexic people back – when, in truth, the potential has never been greater. Today’s Bill is a small step to releasing that potential. […] I’m passionate about improving support for dyslexic people- and all those with neurodiversity – because I feel I was one of the lucky ones.”

You can catch up with Gillian Ashley’s interview with Mr. Hancock over at Chamber UK on  YouTube, and read the article, published in today’s Telegraph, here. We’ll bring you more on Mr. Hancock’s Dyslexia Screening Bill as it develops – we’re excited to see what amazing positive changes in the dyslexic lived experience could come from such a broad screening system at such an early age.