Access to Work for Memory Problems

Memory problems at work rarely look like forgetting a name. They look like leaving a meeting unsure what was agreed, losing a task that was mentioned once in passing, or spending twenty minutes finding a document saved the day before. When a condition is behind them, whether a brain injury, a stroke, long Covid, multiple sclerosis or ADHD, Access to Work for memory problems is worth knowing about. It is a government grant in England, Scotland and Wales that can pay towards the support and assistive software that make those parts of the job manageable, and it is not paid back. This guide covers who can apply, what it can pay for when the need is memory, how to describe that need in an application, what the employer pays, and where the employer’s own duty to make reasonable adjustments fits alongside it.

Access to Work for memory problems: who can apply

Access to Work is for people with a physical or mental health condition or disability that means they need support to do their job or to get to and from work. Memory problems qualify on the same terms as any other need: what counts is the effect on the work, not the name of the condition. The gov.uk eligibility rules give examples ranging from ADHD and dyslexia to a learning disability, a mental health condition, an illness such as epilepsy and a temporary condition, and they state that you do not need a diagnosis to apply.

The other conditions are practical. You need to be 16 or over and in paid work, or about to start or return to it within 12 weeks, and to live and work in England, Scotland or Wales. Paid work can be full or part time, and includes employment, self-employment and apprenticeships. Northern Ireland runs its own scheme, Access to Work (NI).

Memory difficulties often arrive alongside other effects, such as fatigue, slower thinking or trouble concentrating, and an application can describe them together. Our complete Access to Work guide covers the grant limits, the application steps and the timescales in full; this article focuses on the memory side.

Memory problems at work, in practice

Many conditions affect memory at work. The NHS lists problems with memory and concentration, also called brain fog, among the most common symptoms of long Covid, and problems with memory or concentration among the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Being forgetful and finding it hard to follow instructions are among the signs of ADHD in adults. After a stroke, the NHS recovery plan can include activities to improve memory and concentration, and Headway, the brain injury charity, describes the memory problems that can follow a brain injury and the practical steps that help.

Whatever the cause, the difficulties at work tend to cluster in the same places:

• Meetings and calls. Following the discussion while it happens, then remembering what was agreed and who is doing what.
• Spoken instructions. Holding a request with several steps long enough to act on all of them.
• Tasks and deadlines. Keeping track of tasks that were never written down, and of when they are due.
• Finding information. Locating notes, files and emails again later.
• Interruptions. Picking up where you left off after a phone call or a question.

Naming the pattern precisely helps more than naming the condition. “I forget things” gives an assessor little to go on; “I cannot recall the action points from a meeting by the next morning” points straight at a solution.

Support Access to Work can pay for

gov.uk lists support such as specialist equipment and assistive software, and support workers such as a job coach or a note taker. Access to Work pays towards the most cost-effective option that meets the need. Support through Access to Work for memory problems can include one or more of the following.

Assistive software

Software that takes over the parts of the job that lean hardest on memory: recording and transcribing meetings and calls (with the agreement of the people being recorded), turning a conversation into a list of actions, reminders that arrive when a task is due rather than when it was set, and one searchable place for notes. Headway says many people with memory problems use external memory aids such as diaries, calendars and to-do lists, and that electronic devices, alarms and voice recorders can also help. Software brings those aids together on a phone or a computer.

Support workers

Where software is not enough on its own, a note taker for meetings or a job coach may be part of the award, on its own or alongside the tools.

Costs it will not cover

Access to Work does not pay for standard equipment and business costs the job would need anyway, for medical aids, for the diagnosis of a condition, or for anything bought before the application is made and agreed. Buy nothing until the decision letter arrives.

Applying for Access to Work for memory problems

The person with the condition applies, online at gov.uk or by phone on the Access to Work helpline, 0800 121 7479. The application asks how the condition affects the work and what support might help, and for a workplace contact who can confirm the job. Someone from Access to Work then calls to talk it through, and may arrange a workplace assessment by phone, by video or in person. An assessment is not always needed: if you know what helps, say so.

Writing down your needs is hard when memory is the need. A short log kept for a week or two makes it easier: each time a memory problem cost time or caused a mistake, note what happened, what you were doing and what would have helped. Three or four concrete examples carry an application further than a general description, and the same log is useful in a conversation with your manager.

Expect to wait. From April to July 2026 it took an average of 125.6 days from first contact to a decision, so apply as early as you can, and ask your employer for adjustments in the meantime. Once support is approved, the person or the employer buys what has been agreed and claims the money back, within 9 months of the cost.

The employer’s share of the cost

For equipment and software, Access to Work shares the cost with the employer, except for people who are self-employed or in their first 6 weeks in the job, where it can pay up to the full approved cost. Otherwise the employer pays everything up to a threshold that depends on its size (nothing under 50 staff, £500 for 50 to 249, £1,000 for 250 or more), then 20% of the cost up to £10,000, and Access to Work pays the rest.

For a software licence costing £130, that means an employer with 30 staff pays £26 and Access to Work pays £104. An employer with 50 or more staff pays all of it, because £130 is under its threshold. The cost-share calculator works out any other figure.

Reasonable adjustments come first

Access to Work for memory problems sits on top of what an employer must do anyway. Under the Equality Act 2010, an employer has to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled worker once it knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, about the disability, and Access to Work will not pay for those. You count as disabled under the Act if you have an impairment with a substantial and long-term effect on normal daily activities, where long-term means 12 months or more. Multiple sclerosis counts from the day of diagnosis; a brain injury, a stroke or long Covid counts when its effects meet that test, as gov.uk’s definition of disability sets out.

For memory problems, common adjustments include written follow-ups after meetings, instructions given one step at a time and in writing, a shared task list, agreed reminders for deadlines, permission to record meetings, a quieter place to work and regular short check-ins. Our guide to reasonable adjustments at work has more examples by need and a structure for the written request, and it applies to memory problems from any cause.

Notes by condition

Brain injury and stroke

Memory problems after a brain injury or a stroke can change over months, so it helps to apply for what you need now and to ask for a review if your needs change. Phased returns, rest breaks and written plans often matter as much as tools. Our article on returning to work after a brain injury covers the return itself.

Long Covid

Symptoms of long Covid can come and go, so describe your worse days as well as your better ones, and the support that would get you through them. Our piece on brain fog and memory after Covid describes what people report and what helps.

Multiple sclerosis

Because MS counts as a disability from diagnosis, the employer’s duty to make adjustments applies from the start, and Access to Work can add to it. Our article on thinking and memory changes with MS sets out practical strategies.

Where Recallify fits

We built Recallify for this kind of everyday memory load. Our co-founder Dr Sarah Rudebeck is a senior clinical neuropsychologist with a doctorate in memory disorders, and Recallify is the subject of a feasibility study in brain injury self-management funded by the NIHR. In practice, you record a meeting or a passing thought, and Recallify transcribes it, summarises it and pulls out the tasks; reminders bring them back when they are due, and everything stays searchable. One of our users describes this in a case study on managing short-term memory at work.

Recallify AT is the licence for workplace and education use, priced on our Recallify AT price list. Access to Work decides each award and pays towards the most cost-effective option that meets the need, so whether a particular product is funded is a decision for the assessment and the case manager, not for us. Assessors can request a demo account through our assessor toolkit.

Next steps

If memory problems are making parts of your job harder, start with three things: keep a short log of where they cost you time, talk to your manager about reasonable adjustments, and apply for Access to Work for memory problems early, since decisions take months. Describe the work, not just the condition, and say what you think would help. The support exists for exactly this situation, and it is not paid back.

Recallify is designed as an everyday support tool and is not a medical device. It does not provide diagnosis or clinical decision support, and is intended to complement, not replace, professional medical care. This article is general information about Access to Work and the Equality Act 2010, checked against gov.uk on 1 October 2026; it is not advice on a particular case.