The duty to make reasonable adjustments is one of the most heavily litigated parts of UK equality law — but the statistics on how adjustments are actually delivered, funded and enforced are scattered across half a dozen sources. This page gathers them into one fully cited reference: how many disabled workers get the adjustments they ask for, how long they wait, the state of the Government’s Access to Work scheme, and the tribunal fallout when the duty is breached. The figures come from named authorities — the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Access to Work official statistics, the National Audit Office (NAO), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Employment Tribunal statistics — with the data period stated alongside each one.
Key facts and figures
- 82% of disabled workers who secured adjustments waited between four months and over a year for them to be put in place (TUC survey, May 2025).
- 55% of disabled workers who requested adjustments had only some, or none, of their needs met (TUC, May 2025).
- Only 37% of disabled workers surveyed had put in a request for reasonable adjustments at all (TUC, May 2025).
- 109 days — the average Access to Work processing time by November 2025, up from 28 days in 2020–21 (NAO, February 2026).
- ~66,000 Access to Work applications were still awaiting a DWP decision in March 2026 (PAC, June 2026).
- 56,000 people had Access to Work provision approved in the year to March 2025 — down 12% on the year before (DWP, FYE March 2025).
- 3,481 disability discrimination complaints reached employment tribunals in Oct–Dec 2025 — a 99% year-on-year rise (MoJ, Q3 2025/26 provisional).
- £17,218 — the median disability discrimination tribunal award in 2023/24, with the highest reaching £964,465 (MoJ award tables).
These figures are the latest available as of July 2026. The main refresh points are the DWP’s annual Access to Work statistics (published each spring), the quarterly MoJ Employment Tribunal statistics, and periodic TUC survey work; this page is updated as new editions land.
How many disabled workers get the reasonable adjustments they ask for?
Just 37% of disabled workers surveyed had put in a request for reasonable adjustments in the first place, according to the TUC’s Disabled workers’ access to reasonable adjustment survey of 1,000 disabled workers, published in May 2025. That low request rate matters: the duty is largely reactive for employers, so needs that are never raised are rarely met.
For those who did ask, the outcomes were poor. 55% of disabled workers who requested adjustments had only some, or none, of their needs met (TUC, May 2025) — meaning a majority of requests fell short of fully resolving the disadvantage. When a request was refused outright, the reasons given were often thin: 19% of disabled workers were given no reason at all; of those who were given a reason, 24% were told it was ‘not practical to implement’ and 19% that ‘the financial cost was too high’ (TUC, May 2025).
A further complication is disclosure. One in five (20%) disabled workers had not told their employer they were disabled, most commonly for fear of negative repercussions (56%) (TUC, May 2025). Non-disclosure feeds directly into the low request rate: an employer that does not know an employee is disabled has limited scope to anticipate their needs. The legal duty explained in our guide to reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 only bites once the employer knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that a person is disabled and at a substantial disadvantage.
How long does it take to get reasonable adjustments put in place at work?
82% of those who secured adjustments waited between four months and over a year for them to be put in place, according to the TUC’s May 2025 survey. For a worker who is struggling day to day, a wait measured in months — not days — is itself a substantial disadvantage, and delay is a recurring theme in the tribunal cases covered later on this page.
Delay also compounds other problems at work. The TUC found that 34% of disabled workers said the single biggest issue at work was not getting the reasonable adjustments they need — tied with disability-related leave being counted as sick leave, also cited by 34% (TUC, May 2025). The two are linked: while an adjustment such as a phased return or flexible hours is stuck in a months-long queue, the absence it would have prevented is frequently logged as ordinary sickness, which can then trigger attendance warnings.
| Reasonable-adjustment outcome (disabled workers surveyed) | Figure | Source / period |
|---|---|---|
| Had put in a request for adjustments | 37% | TUC, May 2025 |
| Had only some, or none, of their needs met | 55% | TUC, May 2025 |
| Waited 4 months to over a year for agreed adjustments | 82% | TUC, May 2025 |
| Given no reason when a request was refused | 19% | TUC, May 2025 |
| Told a refusal was ‘not practical to implement’ | 24% | Of those given a reason, TUC, May 2025 |
| Had not disclosed their disability to their employer | 20% | TUC, May 2025 |
The TUC survey is the most detailed recent picture of adjustment delivery at the individual level, but it is a point-in-time survey of 1,000 workers rather than a rolling official series — a caveat worth stating whenever these percentages are cited.
What is Access to Work and how much does it fund?
DWP approved Access to Work provision for 56,000 people in the year to March 2025, down 12% from 63,450 the year before — the first fall since the pandemic (figures revised on 29 January 2026), according to the DWP’s Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2025. Access to Work is the DWP grant scheme that funds practical support — specialist equipment, support workers, communication support and travel — where these are needed because of a disability or health condition, and it sits alongside (not instead of) an employer’s own duty to make reasonable adjustments.
The number of people actually being paid tells a different story from approvals. 74,190 customers received an Access to Work payment in the year to March 2025, up from 67,240 the year before — payments rising even as new approvals fell (DWP, FYE March 2025), reflecting the multi-year nature of many awards. Over the longer run the growth is dramatic: the NAO reports that the number of people receiving Access to Work payments rose 97%, from 37,700 in 2018–19 to 74,200 in 2024–25, with just over half (51%) of recipients in 2024–25 having mental health or learning conditions (NAO, February 2026).
Spending has climbed to match. Access to Work spend reached about £321 million in 2024–25, nearly double the £163 million spent in 2018–19, and the DWP’s own grant expenditure forecasts (published 18 March 2025) project it to reach between £517 million and £712 million by 2029/30. That rising cost is the backdrop to the scheme’s current squeeze on processing capacity, examined next.
What is the Access to Work backlog and how long is the wait?
The average Access to Work processing time rose almost fourfold, from 28 days in 2020–21 to 66 days in 2024–25, and had reached 109 days by November 2025, according to the NAO’s February 2026 value-for-money report. In other words, a scheme designed to keep disabled people in work now routinely takes over three months to reach a decision — long enough for a job offer to lapse or a role to become untenable.
The queue behind that wait has grown just as sharply. Applications awaiting a DWP decision nearly trebled, from 21,700 in March 2022 to 62,100 in March 2025 (NAO, February 2026), and the Public Accounts Committee reported that around 66,000 applications were still outstanding in March 2026 (PAC, 12 June 2026). The table below sets the trajectory out.
| Access to Work measure | Figure | Point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Average processing time | 28 days | 2020–21 |
| Average processing time | 66 days | 2024–25 |
| Average processing time | 109 days | November 2025 |
| Applications awaiting a decision | 21,700 | March 2022 |
| Applications awaiting a decision | 62,100 | March 2025 |
| Applications still outstanding | ~66,000 | March 2026 |
The NAO and PAC scrutiny is the reason this backlog has become a live welfare-reform news story rather than an administrative footnote. For employers, the practical lesson is the one set out in law: Access to Work funding can reduce the cost of an adjustment, but a delay in that funding does not suspend the employer’s underlying duty. If an adjustment is reasonable, it should be made even while a grant decision is outstanding.
How many reasonable adjustment claims reach an employment tribunal?
Disability discrimination complaints to employment tribunals reached 3,481 in Oct–Dec 2025 (Q3 2025/26), a 99% year-on-year rise, with an open caseload of 10,746, according to the MoJ’s provisional Employment Tribunal statistics. Failure to make reasonable adjustments is one of the core claim types brought under the disability discrimination jurisdiction, alongside discrimination arising from disability and direct disability discrimination, so this rising caseload is the clearest signal of the enforcement pressure building around the adjustments duty.
The awards attached to successful claims can be significant. The median disability discrimination tribunal award was £17,218 in 2023/24, with the highest award that year reaching £964,465 (MoJ award tables, 2023/24). Compensation for discrimination is uncapped — unlike ordinary unfair dismissal — and includes an element for injury to feelings, which is why disability awards sit among the highest in the tribunal system. The 2024/25 award tables had not been published as of July 2026, with HMCTS migrating its case-management system.
These volumes sit under the wider discrimination trend we track on our workplace discrimination statistics page. They also connect to a broader labour-market picture: the disabled employment rate and the disability pay gap — the two headline measures of disability disadvantage — are covered in full on our disability employment gap statistics page, which serves as the umbrella for this support-delivery slice.
Why do these numbers matter for employers?
The gap between the law on paper and its delivery in practice is where tribunal risk lives. The Equality Act 2010 has required reasonable adjustments since October 2010, yet the TUC data shows a majority of requests are still only partly met, most take months to implement, and a fifth of refusals come with no explanation at all. Each of those failures — delay, partial provision, unexplained refusal — maps onto a recognised route to a successful tribunal claim.
The delivery statistics also expose a structural weakness: employers cannot lean on Access to Work to carry the load. With average processing at 109 days and roughly 66,000 applications outstanding, the scheme is not currently a fast backstop. Acas guidance on reasonable adjustments at work is clear that employers should engage with the practical need rather than waiting on external funding or a formal diagnosis. Training managers to handle requests promptly, document decisions and avoid the ‘not practical’ brush-off is the most direct way to keep both the human and the legal cost down — the focus of our own Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Training course.
Frequently asked questions
How many disabled workers get the reasonable adjustments they ask for?
A majority do not get everything they need. In the TUC’s May 2025 survey of 1,000 disabled workers, 55% of those who requested adjustments had only some, or none, of their needs met. Only 37% had made a request in the first place, and when requests were refused, 19% of workers were given no reason at all.
How long does it take to get reasonable adjustments put in place at work?
Usually months, not days. The TUC found that 82% of disabled workers who secured adjustments waited between four months and over a year for them to be put in place (May 2025). Separately, Access to Work grant decisions — which can fund adjustments — averaged 109 days by November 2025.
What is the Access to Work backlog and how long is the wait?
Around 66,000 Access to Work applications were still awaiting a DWP decision in March 2026, up from 21,700 in March 2022 (PAC, June 2026; NAO, February 2026). Average processing time rose from 28 days in 2020–21 to 109 days by November 2025.
How many disability discrimination claims reach an employment tribunal?
Disability discrimination complaints to employment tribunals reached 3,481 in October–December 2025, a 99% year-on-year rise, with an open caseload of 10,746 (MoJ, Q3 2025/26 provisional). Failure to make reasonable adjustments is one of the core claim types within this jurisdiction.
How much can a reasonable adjustments tribunal claim be worth?
The median disability discrimination tribunal award was £17,218 in 2023/24, and the highest award that year reached £964,465 (MoJ award tables). Discrimination compensation is uncapped and includes an amount for injury to feelings.
Related guides
- Disability Employment Gap Statistics UK: Rates, Pay Gap & Trends
- Workplace Discrimination Statistics UK: Tribunal Claims, Prevalence & Protected Characteristics
- Neurodiversity Statistics UK: Autism, ADHD & Dyslexia Prevalence and Employment
- Reasonable Adjustments Under the Equality Act 2010: A UK Employer’s Guide
- Equality Act 2010: The Complete UK Guide
Sources & references
- TUC — Disabled workers’ access to reasonable adjustment (survey of 1,000 disabled workers, May 2025)
- DWP — Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2025 (revised 29 January 2026)
- National Audit Office — The Access to Work scheme (February 2026)
- Public Accounts Committee — Access to Work report (12 June 2026)
- DWP — Access to Work grant expenditure forecasts (18 March 2025)
- MoJ / HMCTS — Employment Tribunal statistics (disability discrimination jurisdiction and award tables)
- Acas — Reasonable adjustments at work (guidance)
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Mark writes about equality, diversity and inclusion, UK workplace compliance and accredited online training for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Training, part of Online CPD Academy.