What information should school provide for an assessment?

A school report can give an assessment team something the clinic cannot: repeated observations during learning, group activity, transitions and relationships. Its value comes from detail and context, not from whether staff use the expected diagnostic words.

The school's task is not to diagnose or to agree with every family interpretation. It is to describe what it knows in a form clinicians can use.

Give school the question and request

Share the assessment team's form or letter and explain what assessment is being considered. Ask who will coordinate information from class teachers, subject staff, pastoral teams and additional-needs records.

Clarify the deadline and consent arrangements. A report written by one teacher may not represent the whole week. Equally, asking every teacher for a separate essay can create inconsistent volume. A named coordinator can gather specific examples and note their sources.

Ask for a copy where the local process and information-sharing arrangements allow. The family should know what account is being sent about their child.

Describe behaviour in context

Replace broad adjectives with observations.

Instead of "easily distracted", write:

During ten minutes of independent maths, K looked away from the task after each question and needed five individual prompts to return. With one question shown at a time, K completed six questions with two prompts.

Instead of "poor social skills", write:

At lunch, J stood beside a group but did not respond when the topic changed. J later said they could not work out when to join. In the structured chess club, J takes turns and explains rules to two familiar pupils.

Include the place, task, people, duration, support and effect. This allows the assessor to compare domains and settings without turning school language into a trait checklist.

Cover the whole school day

Relevant information may include:

• spoken and written communication;
• attention, activity, impulse control and task initiation;
• reading, writing, maths and learning profile;
• play, friendship, group work and conflict;
• sensory, motor and physical access;
• transitions, changes and unstructured time;
• eating, toileting and self-care where school has relevant observations;
• attendance, lateness, lesson removal and use of support spaces;
• emotional expression and recovery observed in school;
• strengths, interests and independent skills.

Do not infer what staff cannot see. School can say a child appears calm at departure; it cannot conclude that no recovery is needed at home.

Compare settings within school

Variation is valuable. Ask where the child manages with less support and what differs there:

• smaller group or whole class;
• practical or written task;
• familiar or supply teacher;
• quiet room or busy corridor;
• structured club or open playground;
• first lesson or end of day;
• chosen topic or unfamiliar task.

NICE requires ADHD assessment to consider impairment across important settings and says observer reports are part of specialist diagnosis ^[1]. NICE autism guidance advises gathering information from school and, where accounts and clinic observation differ, considering further information or observation in other settings ^[2]. Difference is therefore useful assessment data, not a problem to smooth away.

Record support and its effect

"Receives SEN support" does not tell the assessor what the child can do with it. List:

• the provision or adjustment;
• when and where it was delivered;
• how consistently it was available;
• the intended effect;
• what changed;
• remaining difficulty.

For example:

A visual task sequence was provided in English for four weeks. It was present in 14 of 16 observed lessons. P began work within two minutes in ten lessons, compared with two of eight baseline lessons, but still required help to organise longer written answers.

If support was not consistently delivered, say so. Its effectiveness has not been fully tested.

Use a shared observation structure

Schools can reduce vague or contradictory reporting by using the same headings across staff:

1. lesson, place or routine;
2. task or expectation;
3. direct observation;
4. support available;
5. child's response or account;
6. effect on learning or participation;
7. easier comparison.

For example:

In three Monday assemblies, P sat beside the exit with an agreed visual agenda. P remained for 15, 18 and 20 minutes, then used the exit card. P said the singing was painful. In smaller year-group assembly without singing, P remained throughout.

This says far more than "cannot cope with assembly" and does not require staff to decide whether sensory difference, anxiety or another factor is primary.

Include attendance and removal accurately

Assessment teams may need to know whether the child attends late, misses particular lessons, uses internal support rooms, is collected early or has been suspended. Give dates, frequency, formal status and context.

Do not describe time outside class as "choosing not to learn" if the school has not established that explanation. State who directed the move, what work was available and whether planned support was present. Repeated absence from one lesson may show a relevant pattern without proving the cause.

If the family disputes an exclusion or attendance code, note the dispute and keep the formal process separate. The assessment report is not the place for school to adjudicate it.

Reflect age and stage

For younger children, nursery or school may provide information about play, language, early learning, movement, routines and care. For secondary pupils, gather across subjects and unstructured periods rather than relying only on a tutor. For teenagers, include their own account and the demands of exams, travel, independence and social life.

A transition can change presentation. State whether observations come from before or after a school move, timetable change or new support. Do not merge several years into "always" when the conditions were different.

Include attainment without making it the verdict

A child can attain expected grades and still experience significant difficulty, require substantial support or have impairment elsewhere. Another child can be behind for reasons unrelated to ADHD or autism.

Provide current attainment, progress, discrepancies across task types and the support required to produce the work. Explain whether the result was independent, prompted, scribed, completed in extra time or finished at home.

Avoid "too able to be autistic" or "grades are good, so attention is fine." Diagnostic criteria concern a broader developmental and functional picture, not one attainment threshold.

Keep accounts and interpretations separate

A useful report might say:

Teacher observation: D answers direct questions but rarely initiates talk with peers during class. D's account: "I wait until I know the right thing to say." Staff interpretation: D may need more structured opportunities to communicate; the assessment team should consider the wider pattern.

Do not write that the child masks as an established fact unless the term is clearly attributed and supported. The Blog on masking during assessment explains how to present discrepancy without overclaiming.

If family and school disagree, include both accounts. NICE says parents' and children's developmental concerns should be taken seriously even when others do not share them ^[2]. That does not mean the clinician must accept one account uncritically; it means the assessment should consider the difference.

Use questionnaires carefully

Complete forms from the staff member who knows the relevant context and note how long they have known the child. Answer the question asked and use the comment space for examples or uncertainty.

Do not coordinate answers to reach a threshold. NICE says an ADHD diagnosis must not be made solely from rating scales or observation ^[1]. Autism identification tools can structure information but cannot make or rule out diagnosis ^[2]. A low or high score is one item for clinical interpretation.

What if school says it sees no concern?

Ask for a factual report rather than a letter endorsing referral. Request information on support, attainment, participation, attendance, friendships and different parts of the day. "No concern" may coexist with examples the team can interpret.

Share relevant home and child information separately. The assessment service decides whether it has enough evidence and what further observation is needed. Do not ask school to copy family language or threaten the relationship over a diagnostic conclusion it is not authorised to make.

The showing school your child is struggling guide helps structure a difference between accounts while continuing current education support.

Review the report before it goes

Check names, dates, attendance, support and factual events. Ask for errors to be corrected. If you disagree with a professional interpretation, request that your view is recorded alongside it rather than asking school to state something it does not believe.

Update the assessment team if the child's setting, health, medication, support or functioning changes materially during a long wait. Date every update so clinicians know which period it describes.

Close the information loop

After assessment, school should not assume the clinical team will contact it. With the child's and family's appropriate involvement, agree who shares the report or relevant summary and which recommendations need a school decision.

Compare the final findings with the provision already in place. Keep support that works, revise what no longer matches and record any further assessment question. The school's observation role continues after the form has been submitted.

If the assessment concludes no diagnosis, do not delete the evidence gathered. The direct observations, effective conditions and current needs remain useful for teaching and support review.

Good school information is balanced and testable. It helps an assessor see the child's access to education under real conditions, not decide the diagnosis in advance.

Sources

1. NICE, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management
2. NICE, Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis
3. NHS, ADHD in children and young people