Cognitive and psychoeducational assessment

And what does all of that mean anyway?

In my clinical work, I’m often asked what a cognitive and educational assessment actually involves when parents first get in touch. Often the assessment has been suggested by a teacher, GP, or other professional and it can understandably feel like uncharted territory. Parents sometimes worry it will feel like a test their child might “pass” or “fail,” or that it will lead to a fixed label. But that’s not the goal at all. Psychoeducational assessments are about understanding how a child’s brain works - how they learn, think, and manage the demands of school too - so that we can provide a comprehensive picture of what’s supporting them and what might be getting in the way.

The cognitive part of the assessment often involves the WISC-V UK in Cradle, which is a standardised test that explores five core areas. Verbal Comprehension looks at how a child understands and uses language. Visual Spatial and Fluid Reasoning explores how they make sense of visual information and patterns. Working Memory looks at how well they can hold and manipulate information in their mind, and Processing Speed examines how quickly and accurately they can manage simple tasks under time pressure. These are all different aspects of how a child thinks - and it’s very common to see unevenness or variation across each area. A child might be strong in verbal skills but slower to process written information, for example, and that pattern can tell us a lot about their day-to-day experience. This would be a normal pattern in adults too - if you think about it we all have areas of strength and need. In my case, I know I have a strength in the area of Verbal Comprehension…but ask me to parallel park my car under pressure (which taps into my Visual Spatial ability) and we might have trouble!

Then, in a separate session, educational part of the assessment typically includes standardised measures of academic attainment - things like word reading, reading comprehension, reading fluency, spelling, maths reasoning and fluency. This helps us understand not just where a child is performing compared to peers their age, but also how that performance lines up with their cognitive strengths and needs. Sometimes we see a gap between what a child can do and what they’re able to do in the classroom setting, and that can signal areas where extra support or a different approach might be helpful.

The sessions are always one-to-one and adapted to the child’s pace and needs. There are no trick questions and nothing to study for. Most children actually enjoy the experience - they get to chat, problem-solve, and feel seen in terms of their strengths and needs in a way that’s quite different from school.

The final outcome is a comprehensive report and a feedback conversation that aims to make sense of everything for parents, and where relevant, for the child. It’s very important to know that as psychologists, we are never trying to reduce a child to a single score, we’re creating a profile that helps explain what they find easy, what they find hard, and how we can support them better at home and in school. For a lot of families, that understanding brings relief, clarity, and a plan to move forward. On our side, we are fascinated by learning profiles and have spent our careers developing expertise in understanding scores and making targeted recommendations. When a parent shares that we have “captured their child” in a way that is not just useful, but also therapeutic, it’s one of the best feelings we know!