2.3 Assessment Post School

Post school assessment is usually sought for a variety of reasons. Schools are required to support the transition of a learner leaving school and the individual should be given a copy of their learning profile. It is unlikely that at a local authority school an educational psychologist report will have been carried out (unless this has been done independently); as mentioned earlier this is now a collaborative process. Schools should now provide such information to the individual so it can support further assessment post school if this is required; however please be aware that school records are only held for 7 years.

An adult may have a post school assessment for a range of reasons, to find out all or any of the following:

• If they are dyslexic or not
• What support they might need in further and higher education, e.g. this may be for the Disabled Student's Allowance (DSA)
• What they might need for support in the workplace - dyslexia is considered a disability under the law (Equality Act 2010) and therefore reasonable adjustments would be appropriate
• Information that can be passed to relevant people to better support them e.g. Job centre and adult literacies

Assessment of Specific Learning Difficulties among young adults for the purposes of applying for DSA requires a range of tests to investigate the cognitive profile of the students as well as their attainments in literacy and (where appropriate) numeracy. For such reports, tests of cognitive functioning and underlying ability are regarded as essential for full assessment as well as tests of attainment.

For adults, there are no free assessment services available in Scotland at the moment.  It is a service that you have to pay for no matter your circumstances.  Dyslexia Scotland holds a list of qualified Assessors located in different areas of Scotland.  If someone with dyslexia is willing to pay for an assessment, Dyslexia Scotland [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] should be contacted. Dyslexia Scotland advisers will provide this list of assessors.

For adults the cost of an assessment can be prohibitive and many callers to Dyslexia Scotland’s Helpline ask about free/low cost options.  There are a number of websites which offer online testing services but it should be noted that these are only screening tests.  They cannot provide solid evidence of dyslexia but they are a good starting point, particularly if cost is an issue.  

In a CLD setting, practitioners may work with learners to identify possible indicators of dyslexia.

Further information on resources to support this area can be found in section 3.