Assessments: Before, During and After

Child

• The child must have had a sight test within the last two years and it is helpful if the child has had recent hearing check.
• It is important for children to know that they are going to see someone who is interested in how people learn. The assessment will help to work out why some learning is difficult and what might help to make things easier.
• Children can take examples of school work and reports with them to the assessment.
• It is important that assessors have information about any previous assessments and/or study support. This will help them to avoid repetition of tests, which may make results invalid.
• Parents/carers may like to take something to keep themselves occupied if they wish to stay during assessment as this could be up to about 3 hours. Please note that occasionally, you may not be able to stay during the assessment, please be assured that all BDA assessors are fully checked, qualified and have DBS clearance.
  

Adult

• Adults should have had a sight test within that last two years, and an up-to-date hearing check is helpful.
• Ensure that you know where the assessment is taking place, and make sure that you arrive on time as the assessor may have other assessments booked that day.
• In person assessments take place in a private room at the location where the assessment has been booked. It will be somewhere free from distractions and with a table/writing surface.
• Given the length of the assessment, please take your own refreshments as well as a variety of pens and pencils for written work.
• For online assessments, please see our remote asessment guidance: Remote Assessment
  

A Diagnostic Assessment will usually take up to three hours to complete.

During an assessment the assessor will carry out a series of tests to explore aspects of underlying ability such as:

• Reading, writing and spelling
• Handwriting
  
• Underlying learning skills: phonological awareness, speed of processing and memory, as well as verbal and visual problem-solving skills.

There is usually an informal chat before the assessment to gather a little more background information.

The aim is

• To formally diagnose dyslexia (if this is supported by the test results and background information)
• To assess performance on a range of items, allowing the assessor to consider strengths and challenges. This isn’t an exam so there is no “pass” or “fail” - the intention is to help highlight the person’s individual style of learning or working and what does/does not work for them.
• To collect information about reading, spelling and writing skills.
• To consider other factors which may be affecting learning.
  
• To identify whether any Reasonable Adjustments will need to be made in order for a person to fully access the curriculum, exams or workplace.
  
  

After the assessment the assessor may be able to provide some insight but they will need time to calculate the test scores and analyse the results in order to give a diagnosis. This information will be provided in the subsequent report.

After a Diagnostic Assessment you will receive a written report.

This report will provide evidence of the individual’s cognitive profile, signposting to other organisations or further assessments for specific learning difficulties (if required).

The report will include some recommendations for how to support the individual in the context of their study, the workplace or day-to-day life. Any recommendations of how an individual can be supported in the workplace are likely to be generic and not job-specific.

The aim is that the report is a document that the individual is happy to share with family, teachers, tutors, other professionals and employees if they wish, as this will give them information on how they can help to provide support.

The BDA quality assures its Approved Assessors Diagnostic Assessment reports in line with guidelines set by the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC).

Employer funded

If the individual being assessed has given their permission, a summary report (which does not refer to test scores) will be sent to the individual’s employer/line manager if the employer has paid for the assessment.

Due to data protection law the BDA require written proof of permission from the person who has been assessed before we can release the summary report to the employer.

Disabled Students' Allowance

If the report is for a specific purpose such as application for Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) at university, the assessor will explain how to proceed.