Jamie Oliver tearful as dyslexic teen tells him 'I don't see any hope'
Jamie Oliver is winning the first stage of his latest Channel 4 campaign after getting Bridget Phillipson onside in his battle to overhaul the education system for dyslexic kids.
The education minister has pledged her support for Jamie's mission to revolutionise the school experience for those with special educational needs. The chef, who previously tackled school dinners and sugary drinks, is calling on the government to bring in early screening, within the first two years of primary school, and for teachers to receive proper training on dyslexia - currently just half a day is given over to the subject during a three-year teacher training course.
Dad-of-five Jamie said he was inspired to bring about change because of his own painful experience at school. 'It wasn't great,' he sighed. 'Everything to do with learning and getting it down on paper was terrible, I hated words. I had nothing to offer. That feeling of sadness, of feeling thick, stupid, worthless and dumb.
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'School was just tough because I didn't get it. But seeing other kids and parents going through that pain in 2025, it does make you quite angry.'
The film, Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution, uses statistics showing that one in ten kids is dyslexic - meaning there are three in the average classroom - but for every 10 dyslexic children, only two will be diagnosed.
These children are 3.5 times more likely to be expelled, and those who lose their place at school are 200 times more likely to get involved in violent crime. This could explain why 50% the UK's prison inmates show signs of dyslexia.
'I am starting to see the patterns of getting into trouble and ending up in prison are all massively amplified by dyslexia and neurodiversity…and I don't think it is because this is destiny for them, I think it's a reaction to a feeling that they never fit it,' he said at a launch event in London.
'Dyslexia is bigger than letters jumping around and a few kids struggling to read. It's about getting tens of thousands of kids a year to thrive, and not just survive, in school. An education system that only works for some kids, and not everyone, is broken.'
Jamie said he believes the current education minister is the right person to bring about the changes so many kids and families are desperate for. Having met with mum-of-two Bridget at her parliamentary office, he says: 'I like her. She's doing things that others haven't done for a long time. Out of the 17 or 18 [education ministers] that I've seen over the last 20 years, she sticks out as being one worth putting a bet on.'
Since filming ended, Bridget has agreed that 1 in 4 kids being left out of education is a sign the system needs an overhaul and has committed to improving teacher training around neurodiversity for all new teachers from this September.
The education minister said: 'I am determined to reform the system for children with SEND so that all children can achieve what they're capable of.'
All new teachers will be fully trained when it comes to SEND neurodiversity and existing teachers will also be 'upskilled' as part of reforms she will set out later this year. 'What a lot of our teachers tell me is that they don't feel they've got the support that they need to really provide a brilliant education to children with a much bigger range of needs than might have been the case when they did their initial training,' she said.
The film also hears from 15-year-old Amira, who felt 'isolated' at school, where she failed to get a formal diagnosis and now expects to fail her GCSEs. 'It feels like I have no opportunities. I don't see any hope,' she tells Jamie, who says she's being badly let down.
- Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution, Channel 4, 8pm, Monday
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