Teachers reveal dyslexia training gap

The charity, which supports dyslexic children, found that half of teachers received no training in identifying or helping children with dyslexia before they qualified.

Its report also notes that an estimated one in 10 people in the UK have dyslexia.

The charity said the government should accept an amendment to the Children and Families Bill that would require a module on special educational needs, including dyslexia, to be part of initial teacher training.

School special educational needs co-ordinator (Senco) training also needs improvement, said the charity.

They said current Senco training is “too administrative with little practical advice” on identifying and supporting children with dyslexia.

Among the 124 teachers surveyed by the charity for its report, 84 per cent said it was “very important” to receive specialist training about dyslexia.

Those that received training said this was often less than one hour long.

Researchers also surveyed 54 initial teacher training providers. Seven out of 10 said they spent less than a day training teachers on supporting children with dyslexia.

The charity’s founder Sarah Driver said: “We can’t give children the early and effective help needed if teachers don’t have the training to identify dyslexia or the skills to help the three children with dyslexia who on average will be found in every classroom.”