Requesting adjustments in recruitment

REQUEST FOR REASONABLE ADJUSTMENT TO RECRUITMENT ASSESSMENT

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Reasonable adjustments are changes or supports that employers must consider under the Equality Act 2010 to remove disadvantage in recruitment or employment for people with disabilities, including those arising from neurodivergence.

the information below could be used as the basis of generalised request for adjustments or with a specific set of adjustments you require to emphasise reasons why the employer should adjust their recruitment process

I am a disabled applicant within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010, due to a neurodevelopmental condition. As part of my reasonable adjustments, I am requesting that my suitability for this role is assessed on the basis of how I would perform the job with appropriate assistive and organisational support in place, rather than solely on unsupported interview performance.

Purpose of the adjustment

Neurodevelopmental conditions commonly affect aspects of process, such as real-time verbal organisation, working memory under pressure, speed of written expression, or sequencing of complex information. These features do not reflect a person’s capability to carry out the substantive duties of a professional role.

In practice, I work effectively using commonly available assistive technologies and organisational supports.

Depending on the task, these may include:

• dictation or speech-to-text tools;

• spelling and grammar support;

• structured drafting and planning tools;

• information-retrieval and reference-checking tools;

• AI-assisted drafting or summarisation used to support structure, clarity, and organisation;

• other standard accessibility or productivity software.

• structured task or work sample completed using usual support tools

These tools do not replace judgement, responsibility, or professional accountability. They reduce disability-related barriers and allow work to be produced to a standard consistent with training and experience.

Adjustment requested

I would welcome an early discussion about how best to adapt the recruitment process so that it fairly assesses capability.

This ensures that the assessment measures capability relevant to the job, not performance artefacts of a particular test format.

To avoid substantial disadvantage and to ensure a fair assessment, I request that:

1. My capability is assessed on the basis of performance with reasonable assistive support in place, reflecting how the role would be carried out in practice.

2. The interview and/or assessment process is adjusted so that it does not rely solely on unsupported, real-time verbal performance as a proxy for job competence.

This may be achieved by one or more of the following (by agreement):

• provision of questions or prompts in advance;

• allowance for structured or written responses;

• use of work-sample or task-based assessments completed with usual assistive tools;

• alternative assessment formats that better reflect real-world working conditions;

• or other reasonable adjustments proposed by the organisation.

3. That interview scoring and decision-making criteria reflect assessed competence in relation to the role, taking into account how the role would be performed with reasonable adjustments in place, rather than relying solely on interview presentation.

Legal basis

Under the Equality Act 2010, recruitment processes must not apply a provision, criterion, or practice that places a disabled candidate at a substantial disadvantage without reasonable adjustment. The duty is to assess whether the candidate can perform the role with reasonable adjustments in place, not to assess how they perform without them.

Assessing unsupported interview performance, where this is not intrinsic to the role itself, risks measuring disability-related disadvantage rather than job capability.

Intention

This request is made to support a fair and accurate assessment of suitability for the role, in line with equality law and good practice. I am happy to discuss appropriate adjustments to ensure the assessment is effective for both parties.