Educational Assessment
At The Edinburgh Practice, we specialise in assessments for dyslexia and other related learning difficulties such as dyscalculia (difficulty with numbers) and dysgraphia (difficulties with handwriting). Our highly specialist Educational Psychologist conducts a comprehensive assessment which enables you to seek the support you or your child requires at school, in a further education establishment or in the workplace.
The purpose of an educational assessment is to help identify a child or a young person’s specific learning style, strengths and areas of need. This knowledge helps to generate suitable recommendations for teachers, parents and other professionals that are used to meet those learning needs of school aged children and teenagers.
The assessment will be 5 hours in total:
1. Cognitive Assessment (2 Hrs)
The first 2 hrs of the assessment will be from a cognitive assessment, where our educational psychologist will look at the child or young persons difficulties and is particularly helpful to identify the areas of strengths and weaknesses that they may be experiencing and identify if there is a learning need.
The tool used for the cognitive assessment is the WISC-V (Wechsler intelligence scale) which can be used for children to provide a full cognitive profile of strengths and difficulties, including; verbal comprehension, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory, processing speed, quantitative reasoning, auditory working memory, non-verbal, general ability and cognitive proficiency
The cognitive assessment is particularly helpful as it can assist with identifying children who are experiencing academic issues at school. Common concerns may include:
- Identifying intellectual disabilities
- Identifying and diagnosing learning disabilities and disorders
- Evaluating cognitive processing strengths and weaknesses
- Assessing for giftedness
- Assessing for the impact of brain injuries
2. Academic Assessment (2 Hrs)
The second part of the assessment will be 2 hrs in length and will look at the child or young persons academic ability.
During the educational assessment our educational psychologist will carry out a series of tests to explore aspects of underlying ability such as:
- Reading, writing and spelling
- Handwriting and fine motor skills
- Underlying learning skills: phonological awareness, speed of processing and memory, speech and language.
It is possible there may be further assessing for numeracy difficulties.
There is usually an informal chat before the assessment to gather a little more background information.
3. Feedback (1hr)
The final part of the assessment is 1 hr in length and will conclude the findings from the assessment. Following this, Our full educational assessment includes a comprehensive report that can be shared with school staff, employer or universities. This will be completed within 4-6 weeks post assessment.
Why Have an Educational Assessment?
- Children or teenagers with additional support needs, such as specific learning difficulties, may be entitled to additional support within school.
- Full educational assessments for secondary aged pupils includes assessment for alternative exam arrangements.
- Pupils with disabilities and learning difficulties- from physical disabilities through to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Dyslexia, ADHD, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder and ASD will often have problems in coping with tests and examinations, especially under time-limited conditions.
- Pupils with ASD struggling with anxiety from heightened levels of anxiety through to anxiety disorders may benefit from alternative exam arrangements such as quiet individual space, breaks, additional time or time prompts.
- Adults too are entitled to support and consideration of their particular needs; students entering higher education are often provided with additional technology and academic input to support their studies, and within the workplace, employers can be requested to consider adjustments to help maximise an employers’ success and productivity.