Fiona Simpson speaks to the former Health Secretary about better support for dyslexic children.
Hancock: "We’ve got to both celebrate the diversity of thought and make sure people get the support they need." Picture: UK Parliament
Hancock: "We’ve got to both celebrate the diversity of thought and make sure people get the support they need." Picture: UK Parliament

“I think it’s shocking that still only one in five dyslexic kids are identified in school,” says Matt Hancock as he sits down in his Westminster Office to discuss plans for his new Dyslexia Screening Bill (see box).

Hancock, the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, was diagnosed with dyslexia – a neurodiversity which affects people’s ability to read, write and spell – at the age of 18 after being encouraged to get an assessment by his politics, philosophy and economics tutor at Oxford University.

Hancock, the MP for Newmarket, describes his diagnosis as a “lightbulb moment”, explaining that he had gone through school thinking he was “just rubbish” at English and foreign languages.

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