For many children/young people, using additional assessments, e.g. standardised reading test, will help clarify their needs and monitor progress.
This section suggests assessment tools that schools might use to learn more about the child/young person’s strengths and areas for development within the four broad areas of need.
Use the SEND indicators tool (xlsx format, 98 KB) to help you identify detailed information about a child or young person’s strengths and areas for development. The tool is in a strength-based format, meaning that you select what the child or young person can already do, and the unchecked boxes become areas for development. As with the previous descriptors, please assess all relevant areas of need. Careful observation and targeted diagnostic one-to-one work with the pupil is the best way to unpick areas for development..
Communication and interaction
- WellComm - GL Assessment is a complete speech and language toolkit, from screening to intervention. Delayed language skills can impact learning and future success. WellComm helps identify pre-school and primary school children facing speech and language barriers early, so they get the right support at the right time. Designed for Early Years and Primary settings, WellComm is quick and simple to use — no specialist expertise is needed. With long waits for speech and language therapy, it gives nurseries and schools an instant speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) profile and ready-made interventions that can be used straight away.
- British Picture Vocabulary Scale - GL Assessment
- The Renfrew Language Scales - Book Series - Routledge & CRC Press
- Progression Framework – Autism Education Trust
- Speech and Language UK progress checker. A tool for parents and educators to monitor and track the development of children's speech, language and communication skills.
- Speech and Language UK’s Universally Speaking booklets show where children should be with their communication skills at any given age.
- Speech Sounds development chart outlines the sounds a child will be learning around certain ages, examples of words containing those sounds and the most common errors they make.
- The Autism Education Trust Sensory Assessment Checklist looks at how children respond to sensory experiences.
- Affect Autism Sensory Screening Tool looks at how children respond to sensory experiences.
Cognition and learning
Standardised reading tests- accuracy and decoding scores
- New Salford Sentence Reading Test
- New Group Reading Test
- York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension (YARC)
- Explore gaps in phonological knowledge and processing - literacy assessment pack (docx format, 600KB)
Standardised spelling tests
Standardised phonological skills test
Handwriting
Standardised mathematics test
Working memory
Social, emotional and mental health
- Boxall profile: A comprehensive whole-school approach to assess and support the social, emotional, and behavioural development of all children and young people, to positively impact their learning, behaviour, attendance, and wellbeing Boxall Profile Online
- QCA assessment can be found here Personal Education Plan (PEP) Toolkit
- SDQ: The strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) is a short behavioural screening questionnaire for children aged 3 to 16 SDQ Virtual School Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire or The strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) : Mentally Healthy Schools
- Spence anxiety scales (child, parent and pre-school): The scale assesses six domains of anxiety including generalized anxiety, panic/agoraphobia, social phobia, separation anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and physical injury fears. It is designed to be relatively easy and quick for children to complete, normally taking only around 10 minutes to answer the questions. Young people are asked to rate the degree to which they experience each symptom on a 4-point frequency scale. SCAS Home - The Spence Children's Anxiety Scale
- A toolkit for schools and colleges from public health England that details positive mental health and wellbeing tracking tools. It summarises their purpose, age group, cost (many are free) etc. So that schools can choose the best tools for their own needs. Measuring and monitoring children and young people’s mental wellbeing | Anna Freud
- The Engagement for Learning Framework offers educators the resources to construct personalised learning pathways, the flexibility to adjust and optimise them, and an effective means to evidence children’s progress. Engagement 4 Learning – Barry Carpenter Education
Physical/sensory difficulties
Meeting the needs of learners with SEND
To support you in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, please go to the DO section of the SEND Framework and look in the relevant need. For training on various special educational needs see the full offer in the Training and CPD opportunities section of the home page.
Assessment tools for those working below age-related expectations
Pre-key stage standards are for pupils who are working below the overall standard of national curriculum assessments, but who are engaged in subject-specific study. These standards are teacher assessment and attainment target-setting tools.
Early Support Developmental Journals:
- Down Syndrome - A Developmental Journal is designed to help families and professionals track and understand the development of a child with Down Syndrome.
- Multiple Needs - A Developmental Journal that is designed to help families and practitioners support the achievements of children whose development is affected by multiple factors that result in learning challenges.
There are published assessment and tracking toolkits that allow you to identify and monitor small steps of progress. These include the following:
- Birmingham SEN Toolkits
- B-Squared: A suite of packages to buy for pupil tracking to demonstrate learning for all pupils, across all areas, Simplify Pupil Tracking with B Squared Assessment Software
- B Squared Assessment
- Evidence for Learning
- Curriculum development EQUALS
- Oxfordshire Development Journal (ODJ) (docx format, 141 KB)
The engagement model is the assessment (replacing P scales 1 to 4) for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum assessments and not engaged in subject-specific study.
Training materials for teachers of learners with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties to support assessment and provision