Access to Work: practical support at work from GOV.UK

Access to Work is a GOV.UK programme that can help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability. Its main grant helps pay for practical support with your work, it does not affect your other benefits, and you do not pay it back. Check your eligibility and apply on GOV.UK.

What the practical support grant can pay for

According to GOV.UK, the grant could help pay for:

• Specialist equipment and assistive software
• Support workers, such as a BSL interpreter, a job coach or a travel buddy
• The costs of travelling to work, if you cannot use public transport
• Adaptations to your vehicle so you can get to work
• Physical changes to your workplace

Your workplace can include your home if you work from there some or all of the time. You or your employer may need to pay some costs up front and claim them back later.

GOV.UK describes two other kinds of support: help with managing your mental health at work, and money for communication support at job interviews. Each has its own eligibility rules, set out on the GOV.UK pages.

Who can apply

For the practical support grant, GOV.UK says you must:

• Have a physical or mental health condition or disability that means you need support to do your job or to get to and from work
• Be 16 or over
• Be in paid work, or about to start or return to paid work within the next 12 weeks
• Live and work in England, Scotland or Wales, since Northern Ireland has a different system

You do not need a diagnosis to apply. A paid job can be full or part time, and GOV.UK lists employment, self-employment, an apprenticeship, a work trial or work experience, an internship and a work placement. Voluntary work does not qualify.

Self-employment

GOV.UK counts self-employment as paid work. If you are self-employed, you must have an annual turnover of at least £6,500. If you are employed, you can get support however much you earn or have in savings. This matters for people on the BUILD route, because a trade of your own counts as paid work for the programme.

What it does not pay for

Access to Work does not pay for reasonable adjustments, which are the changes an employer must legally make so that you can do your job. GOV.UK says Access to Work will advise your employer if changes should be made as reasonable adjustments. The WORK route treats adjustments as part of a role from the start.

How to apply

GOV.UK says you can apply online or by phone. You will need your contact details, your workplace address and postcode, and information about how your condition affects your work and what support you think you need. If you are employed, you give details of a workplace contact who can confirm you work there, and they are not contacted without your permission. If you are self-employed, you give your Unique Taxpayer Reference number. If you cannot use the phone, GOV.UK says you can ask for all communication to be by email instead.

Where IT’S POSSIBLE NOW fits

The second step on How it works is removing practical barriers: access, equipment, transport, communication and adjustments. Where a disability or health condition creates an extra cost, government support may already exist, and How it works names Access to Work as an example.

Access to Work is run by the government, so eligibility and applications are on GOV.UK. The rules and figures above were read on 8 October 2026 and can change, so check the GOV.UK pages before you apply.

To talk through your own situation, register your interest. You never need to share a diagnosis to do that.