When Can An Educational Assessment Be Helpful?
- 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.
- Assessing for giftedness/high IQ. This is often requested when applying for schools or Universities abroad.
At The Edinburgh Practice, we specialise in individual and combined assessments for the following specific learning difficulties for children and young people aged 8 years and above:
- Dyslexia
- Dyscalculia (difficulty with numbers)
- Dysgraphia (difficulties with handwriting)
Our highly specialist Educational Psychologists offer a comprehensive assessment which enables you to seek the support you or your child requires at school or in a further education establishment. This knowledge helps to generate suitable recommendations for teachers, parents and other professionals that can support the identified learning needs of school aged children, teenagers and young adults.
The Assessment Process
Please note depending on the focus of the assessment the process may vary slightly to suit your/your child’s needs. All assessments include the use of standardised assessment tools which are in line with best practice guidelines.
At the beginning of the assessment you will meet with our Educational Psychologist who will gather background information and clarify the goals of the assessment.
An Educational Psychology assessment will include a cognitive assessment, using the Wechsler intelligence scales, which can be used for providing 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 (IQ) and cognitive proficiency.
A variety of further assessment tools are used and these will be selected and tailored to the focus of the assessment. These assessments involve a range of tasks which can include; language and handwriting tasks, answering questions, reading and numeracy tasks.
To conclude the assessment you will have a feedback appointment where you will discuss the outcome and findings from the assessment. You will also be provided with a comprehensive report that can be shared with school or educational support staff as desired. The report will include a detailed overview of the findings from the assessment and recommendations for any learning supports and adjustments.
As of April 2024 we are delighted to share that we do not have a waiting list for our Educational Psychology assessments.