Educational Psychology Assessments
Our Educational Psychology Team are skilled assessors who have extensive training in relation to all areas of a child’s learning. An Educational Psychology Assessment can contribute to the identification of factors which may be hindering your child’s learning and participation in school and other activities.
If you have any concerns about your child’s learning, or their school progress, an Educational Psychology Assessment can help to put a comprehensive plan in place, encouraging your child to reach their full potential. We can provide an assessment to children aged 6 and over.
Why Might My Child See a Private Educational Psychologist?
All schools should have access to an Educational Psychologist who can provide advice, assessment and support where there are concerns about a child’s learning, development or behaviour. We would always recommend discussing any concerns with your child’s school in the first instance, as they can explain what support is available and the expected timescales for accessing Educational Psychology services.
However, waiting times can vary considerably depending on the local authority and level of demand. As a result, some families choose to arrange an independent Educational Psychology assessment to gain a clearer understanding of their child’s strengths and needs, helping them access timely recommendations and support.
When there are concerns about learning, the sooner your child can access the appropriate support required, the better and the more successful the interventions will be. If applying for an Education Health and Care Plan for your child, at times an Educational Psychology report may be needed.
What Can an Educational Psychology Assessment Help With?
- If you are concerned about your child’s progress at school
- If your child is becoming anxious about learning
- If your child’s academic progress continues to be below age related expectations despite them receiving additional support
- If your child has specific literacy or numeracy difficulties
- If your child has language and communication difficulties
- If your child has attention and concentration difficulties
- If your child is struggling to remember information
- If you want to find out if your child may have a specific learning difficulty, such as Dyslexia or Dyscalculia
*Please note an Educational Psychologist cannot formally diagnose ADHD or Autism. Their tests used can determine whether there are indications of this present, but for a formal diagnosis, this would need to be a separate and different type of assessment.
The Assessment Process
Every child is unique, and our Educational Psychology assessments are tailored to your child’s individual strengths, needs and circumstances. While each assessment follows a structured, evidence-based approach, the exact process will vary depending on your child’s age, presenting difficulties and the questions you would like the assessment to answer.
Once you have contacted us, we will arrange an appointment for your child at our clinic. The assessment typically lasts 2 to 2.5 hours. A day or two beforehand, the Educational Psychologist will arrange a telephone consultation with you to gain a better understanding of your child’s developmental history, current concerns and the outcomes you are hoping to achieve.
During the assessment, the Educational Psychologist will use a range of standardised, evidence-based assessment tools and clinical techniques appropriate to your child’s age and individual needs. These may explore areas such as cognitive ability, learning, memory, attention, language, processing skills and emotional wellbeing, depending on the reason for the referral.
Following the assessment, the Educational Psychologist will provide you with verbal feedback to discuss the initial findings and answer any questions you may have. A comprehensive written report will then be provided within 21 working days. The report will summarise the assessment findings, identify your child’s strengths and areas of need, and provide practical, personalised recommendations for parents, carers and educational settings. These recommendations may include teaching strategies, adjustments to the learning environment, behavioural support, targeted interventions and advice on accessing additional support, helping your child to reach their full potential both at home and in school.
Our Educational Psychology Assessments our provided in our calm and welcoming therapy rooms, to help children and young people feel at ease.
Types of Assessments and Fees
This is the most commonly booked assessment, and will provide an understanding of your child’s learning needs, as well as assessing for any Specific Learning Difficulties. The cost of this assessment is £925, which includes an initial telephone call with the Psychologist, the formal assessment, verbal feedback and the report.
This assessment is suitable for those wanting to apply for an EHCP.
The standard assessment and report can also be used for appeals and tribunals, however please note, it is not written as a legal document and our Psychologists are unable to attend tribunals. Although a standard report can usually be used as evidence, it is important to check with your solicitor or educational advocate first, to see if a legal document is required. In most cases, for example, if your initial EHCP application was rejected and you are appealing this, a standard report will suffice. However, for more complex cases, or if you require a legal document for your appeal, then you would need to commission a ‘SENDIST EP’ or a ‘MEDICO LEGAL EP’ for this.
If you have applied for an EHCP for your child, and this has been initially accepted, the local authority then will carry out an ‘Educational Health Care Needs Assessment’ as the next step. This assessment will then determine whether your child will be given an EHCP. Only a local authority can carry this out and make this decision, however, at times, if there are delays within the local authority, some families choose to pursue a private assessment. It is important to note, that this assessment is not the legal EHCNA assessment, as only the local authority can carry this out, but the report is written in the same way, including detailing quantified provision that your child requires. A private report of this kind should enable the local authority to have more information so they do not need to fully re-assess and may speed up the approval process, however it is up to each individual authority whether they will accept a private report. Please always speak to your EHCP representative before booking.
This type of assessment is also useful for families who are wanting their child’s EHCP updated and want an independent perspective on outcomes and provisions.
The assessment itself is the same as the standard assessment, but would also include a more detailed telephone call with parents / carers to gain more information and the report would be written in a very different way. The cost of this assessment is £1050.
If you are looking for a more in-depth cognitive assessment, we also offer Neuropsychology Assessments within our clinic. Please see here for more information.
Our Educational Psychology Assessments are provided by our HCPC Registered Clinicians, Julia Anderson: Registration PYL38358 and Michael Rance: Registration PYL20275