Frewen College Headmaster Mark Loveday on new dyslexia understanding and the importance of timely professional diagnosis and support
The question: ‘what is dyslexia?’ has been debated for nearly 150 years, with the first case being identified in 1877. In England, the first recorded case occurred in 1896 in Sussex, the home county of Frewen College, when a physician diagnosed a boy named Percy. The physician described him as being a bright and able child with normal intelligence, but who experienced significant difficulties with reading. Labelled as having ‘word blindness,’ Percy represents the first documented case in England of what we now call dyslexia.
Fast forward to the start of 2025, and we saw a significant stride forward with the launch of the long-awaited outcomes from the Delphi Dyslexia Study and associated updated diagnostic definition. This update places greater emphasis on co-occurring needs – fluency, background, and orthographic skills – representing a significant step forward in how dyslexia is understood and supported.
Frewen College is considered to be the oldest dyslexia school in the world, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this national development. Our involvement has come about through my position as a Board Director for the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC), helping to define the future of dyslexia support across the UK.
Learning to read and spell is a complex process, beginning with accurate grapheme-phoneme (letter-sound) correspondence, progressing to the recognition of sight words, and, finally, extending to the ability to manipulate elements within words. Although difficulties with literacy are central to dyslexia, its impact often extends beyond reading and spelling. Memory and processing difficulties mean that many individuals also experience difficulties with organisational skills, further adding to the challenges they face.
Early dyslexia identification is vital to effective intervention, with research showing better outcomes for children where this has taken place. Additionally, children with poor reading are at increased risk of a range of emotional and behavioural difficulties (Snowling et al., 2020).
As part of its commitment, Frewen College has introduced Prep Plus+, an initiative which opens the doors of our small and nurturing Prep to students with literacy difficulties – even in the absence of a formal dyslexia diagnosis. This allows us to extend our specialist teaching approach to a wider range of learners. We also provide a vital diagnostic pathway, offering assessments for dyslexia and co-occurring needs through our onsite multi-disciplinary team. Our team includes specialist teacher assessors, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists.
“Although difficulties with literacy are central to dyslexia, its impact often extends beyond reading and spelling”
For schools, the use of screening tools can play an important part in gathering background information, with the data often supporting evidence for onward referrals. But it’s important to realise that they are purely screeners and do not provide a definitive diagnostic outcome.
Where dyslexia is suspected, and an onward referral made or recommendations given to parents, it is important to ensure that professionals are suitably qualified to assess. In the UK, these professionals are either registered Educational Psychologists or registered Specialist Teacher Assessors. Information can be found via the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) or The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) websites.
Our outreach service – the Frewen Advisory Support Team (FAST) – further supports schools and parents with early identification, providing timely specialist advice, support and assessments. Frewen remains committed to leading the way in dyslexia education, championing inclusion, early intervention, and specialist support which transforms lives.
Frewen College frewencollege.co.uk
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