What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which can make processing written texts very challenging. The Dyslexia Association states that it is part of a family of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) including dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. People with dyslexia may struggle with:

  • Reading accurately 
  • Spelling correctly 
  • Memory
  • Organisation
  • Time management 
  • Coping in  busy and chaotic environments (sensory distraction) as they cannot ‘screen out’ background noise (sensory overload).

Naturally, parents may wonder if the difficulties that come with dyslexia will prevent their child getting into a grammar school. Whilst it is true that 11+ preparation heavily depends on reading, having dyslexia doesn’t automatically mean a child will fail the 11+ test and therefore fail to get into a grammar school.  It is crucial to identify whether or not your child has the condition and if necessary, have a plan to manage the condition. In the first instance, parents should speak to the SENCO in their child’s primary school. The SENCO can can do an assessment to determine if your child has dyslexia.  

Nowadays, we acknolwedge and understand dyslexia a lot better than we used to, which in turn means there is more support available for it. 

Dyslexia and other learning difficulties

Dyslexia is one of the most common types of SpLD. While 10% of the UK population have dyslexia, 5% have dyspraxia and approximately 3 – 6% of people are thought to have some form of dyscalculia. Interestingly, dyslexia often co-occurs with ADHD; 20-40% of children with ADHD also have dyslexia, although there are no definitive answers about why this might be the case.

How is dyslexia identified?

There are common patterns to watch for if you suspect a child has dyslexia. However, the condition presents differently depending on age. Older children, in particular, may have developed coping strategies to hide their reading challenges, making dyslexia more difficult to recognise. Below are some key signs to observe, from early childhood to young adulthood.

Early years

You may notice that the child:

  • Has delayed speech development compared to peers
  • Struggles to learn nursery rhymes (difficulty identifying rhyme patterns is common in dyslexia)
  • Mispronounces or mixes up words and phrases
  • Needs instructions broken into small steps and struggles with multi-step tasks
  • Has trouble with motor skills, such as catching or throwing

Younger Primary

As the child begins school, you might observe that they:

  • Substitute similar words when reading (e.g., saying “kitten” instead of “cat” on an illustrated page)
  • Struggle with simple words like map, nap, or bat
  • Have difficulty linking letters to their sounds
  • Misread/ confuse one word for another (e.g. “stared” instead of “started”)
  • Understand stories well when read to them but struggle to read independently

Grammar schools and dyslexia

Schools cannot discriminate against pupils that have dyslexia, whether grammar or non-grammar. In fact, schools are required to meet the needs of individual learners as much as reasonably possible. Every school, whether grammar, non-grammar or independent, will have a SENCO (special educational needs coordinator), whose job it is to assess for learning needs and put a plan in place for every child. Larger schools will have a team of specialists who work in the SEN department and therefore carry out assessments quickly, whilst smaller schools may have just one SENCO handling all the work, which understandably takes longer. State non-selective schools tend to have larger SEN departnments. Getting an assessment date can take a very long time in secondary schools, so if possible, it is better to get a diagnosis whilst children are in primary schools.


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