Should you disclose a disability on your CV?

Decide what disclosure would get you

Disclosure is a tool, not a confession. Before deciding, write down what telling this employer would change for you. If the honest answer is nothing, the CV can stay silent; a CV is a record of what you can do, and no law we read asks you to list health information on it.

• An interview offer: employers in the UK Disability Confident scheme commit to offering interviews to disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria, and you can only use that if you tell them.
• Adjustments to the selection process: extra time in a test, an accessible room, a paper form, a sign language interpreter.
• Context for a gap or a change of pace in your work history, if you would rather explain it than leave it open.
• Relevance: lived experience can be part of the job, for example in peer support or accessibility work.

Disclosure happens in more than one place

The CV, the diversity monitoring form, an adjustment request, the interview and the time after an offer are separate moments. You can say nothing on the CV, tick a monitoring box that is handled apart from your application, and ask for an adjustment by email. Each is its own decision.

Where it can happen in a UK application, step by step

1. The advert: GOV.UK tells jobseekers to look for the Disability Confident symbol on adverts and application forms.
2. The application form: a diversity monitoring section is one of the purposes for which the Equality Act allows a health question before an offer.
3. The adjustment request: the employer may ask whether you need adjustments for an assessment or interview, and should make the reasonable ones.
4. The interview: questions about health are limited to the purposes the Act lists, such as whether you can carry out a function intrinsic to the work.
5. After the offer: section 60 restricts questions before an offer, so it no longer bars health questions once one is made.
6. Starting work: Access to Work can fund support your employer is not legally required to provide.

What a UK employer may ask before an offer

Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 says an employer must not ask about an applicant's health before offering work or before putting them in a pool of candidates. Section 60(6) lists the exceptions:

• whether you can take part in an assessment, or whether adjustments are needed for it
• whether you can carry out a function intrinsic to the work
• monitoring diversity among applicants
• positive action for disabled people
• whether you have a particular disability, where having it is a genuine occupational requirement of the job

And in the United States

The EEOC's guidance on job applicants says the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits questions likely to reveal a disability before a job offer, on forms and in interviews, and does not require an applicant to tell an employer about a need for accommodation at any particular time. It covers private employers with 15 or more employees and state and local governments. An employer may describe the hiring process and ask whether you need an accommodation for it.

Wording you can use, by situation

The lines below are examples written for this page, not legal forms. Change them to fit your facts and say only what you are comfortable saying.

A CV that discloses nothing

An invented example: Sam Okafor, a payroll officer with a hearing impairment who uses captions in meetings. The CV shows a profile, five years of payroll roles with numbers (for instance, '2,300 employees paid monthly with no late runs in 2025'), qualifications and software. Nothing on it refers to hearing. Sam asks for captioned video interviews by email after the invitation. The CV did its job; the request went where it was needed.

A cover letter paragraph that does disclose

If you choose to raise it in a letter, keep it short and tie it to the work: 'I have dyslexia and use text-to-speech software, which is how I proofread the 40-page monthly compliance reports I currently produce.' One sentence on the condition, one on what you deliver. The rest of the letter is about the role.

Disability Confident and adjustments, as GOV.UK describes them

Read on 13 October 2026. Disability Confident has three levels: Disability Confident Committed employer (level 1), Disability Confident Employer (level 2) and Disability Confident Leader (level 3). Level 1 membership lasts up to three years. The level 1 guidance, updated 23 July 2026, lists five commitments: an inclusive and accessible recruitment process, communicating and promoting vacancies, offering an interview to disabled people, anticipating and providing reasonable adjustments, and supporting employees who become disabled.

What 'offer an interview' means

The guidance says a disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria in the advert or job specification may be offered the chance to show their skills at interview. It also says employers may not be able to interview every such applicant, for example when application volumes are high, and should explain that in their policies and adverts. Read the advert's wording rather than assuming a guaranteed interview. GOV.UK publishes a spreadsheet of employers that have signed up; the version on the page updated 15 September 2026 reflects sign-ups to August 2026.

Adjustments during recruitment

GOV.UK's guidance for employers says to ask applicants whether they need an interview adjustment and to make reasonable ones: accessible premises, changed lighting or layout, a working interview, extra time in selection tests, written tests on a computer, information in accessible formats, and a paper alternative to an online form. Employers must not ask about health before an offer except for the purposes above.

Who counts as disabled under the Equality Act

GOV.UK says you are disabled under the Act if a physical or mental impairment has a substantial (more than minor or trivial) and long-term (12 months or more) negative effect on normal daily activities. Cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis count from the day of diagnosis.

Access to Work

Access to Work can pay for communication support at a job interview, such as a British Sign Language interpreter or lipspeaker, and for equipment, support workers and travel once you work. It does not pay for reasonable adjustments, which the employer must make. You need to be 16 or over, in paid work or starting within 12 weeks, and living and working in England, Scotland or Wales; Northern Ireland has a separate system. GOV.UK says a grant does not affect other benefits.

What this page does not settle

• It is not legal advice. GOV.UK points to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for what employers must do; in the US, the EEOC handles discrimination charges under the ADA.
• Jobs where a particular disability is an occupational requirement follow the narrow exception in section 60(6)(e).
• The EEOC applicant guidance we cite was issued in 2003; check eeoc.gov for later updates before relying on a detail.
• Applying in Türkiye follows different rules: the quota under the Labour Law and the EKPSS exam for public posts. The Turkish version of this page covers them.

Next steps

• Draft the CV around evidence of what you deliver; the page on how to write a resume covers the structure.
• If an employer screens with AI and your history is unusual, the page on opting out of AI screening explains when a person-only review is available.
• For the letter, the cover letter guide covers format; keep any disclosure to the two sentences shown above.
• CitedCV writes a CV only from the facts you enter, so a health detail appears in the draft only if you add it yourself.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Equality Act 2010, section 60 (legislation.gov.uk)www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/60
2. GOV.UK, Level 1: Disability Confident Committed (updated 23 July 2026)www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-confident-guidance-for-levels-1-2-and-3/level-1-disability-confident-committed
3. GOV.UK, Disability Confident employers that have signed upwww.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-confident-employers-that-have-signed-up
4. GOV.UK, Looking for work if you’re disabledwww.gov.uk/looking-for-work-if-disabled
5. GOV.UK, Reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities or health conditionswww.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments-for-disabled-workers
6. GOV.UK, Employing disabled people and people with health conditionswww.gov.uk/government/publications/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions
7. GOV.UK, Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
8. GOV.UK, Access to Workwww.gov.uk/access-to-work
9. GOV.UK, Access to Work eligibilitywww.gov.uk/access-to-work/eligibility
10. EEOC, Job applicants and the ADAwww.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/job-applicants-and-ada