Interview adjustments for disabled and neurodivergent candidates: what the law asks and what works

6 minute read · Updated 2026-10-18

An interview tests two things at once: whether somebody can do the job, and whether they are good at interviews. For most jobs only the first one matters. For a disabled or neurodivergent candidate (autistic, dyslexic, ADHD, dyspraxic, or with a condition you cannot see) the second can hide the first completely. A few small changes fix that, and some of them are the law.

What the law asks of you

Under the Equality Act 2010 (sections 20 and 21) an employer must make reasonable adjustments so that a disabled candidate is not put at a substantial disadvantage, and that duty already applies to the recruitment process, interviews included. What is reasonable depends on what it costs, what difference it makes and the size of your business, so a small employer is not expected to do what a large one would. Most adjustments at interview cost nothing.

Section 60 of the same Act stops you asking about health before a job offer, with a few exceptions. One of them is asking whether a candidate needs an adjustment for the interview itself. So ask, and ask everybody: put one line in the invitation.

"Is there anything we can do to make the interview work better for you? For example more time, the questions in writing, a quiet room, or a different time of day."

Adjustments that cost nothing

Tell people what to expect. Who they will meet, how long it lasts, where to go, whether there is a task. Uncertainty costs an anxious candidate half their attention before the first question.
Send the questions, or the topics, in advance. You still find out what they know; you stop testing how fast they can think in a strange room.
Ask one thing at a time, in plain words. "Tell me about a time you had to deal with conflict and what you learned and how you would do it differently" is three questions. Split it.
Allow more time, and silence. A pause before an answer is thinking, not a weak candidate.
Do not mark eye contact, small talk or a firm handshake. None of them are in the job description.
Let them show rather than tell. For practical jobs, a short paid or unpaid working trial of an hour, or a task done in front of you, often says more than any question.
Offer a quieter room or a video call if the noise of a warehouse office or a café is the problem.
Accept written answers or notes brought into the room, and let a candidate with dyslexia take a written test on a computer with a spell checker unless spelling is genuinely part of the job.

Where help can come from

The government's Access to Work scheme can pay for support that a disabled person needs to start or stay in work, and it can cover support at a job interview, for example a British Sign Language interpreter. The candidate applies, not you. The government's Disability Confident scheme is free to join and gives you a simple framework to work to.

Keep it fair for everybody

An adjustment is not an advantage. You are still assessing the same skills against the same standard: you have only removed something that was measuring the wrong thing. Ask every candidate the same core questions, write the answers down, and score them against the job. It is the fairest way to interview anybody, and if a decision is ever challenged it is your best evidence.

For the questions themselves, there is a list for every job title on our interview questions pages, with what UK law says you must not ask. For the whole process, see how to interview candidates.

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