Cognitive Assessments

A cognitive assessment, or psychometric test, is an assessment of your child’s thinking and learning skills. It can provide a profile of strengths and difficulties that provides further information into how your child learns best and what they find difficult. It can be used to help inform learning approaches in the classroom as well as at home.

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The tests can be used as standalone assessment or as part of a wider assessment of neurodevelopmental needs (e.g. ADHD, ASD, FASD or specific learning difficulties). 

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Most children enjoy the experience as the tasks are varied and there are frequent changes of activity.

 

Every effort will be made to ensure your child feels comfortable and relaxed during the assessment and they will be given breaks as needed. Children usually leave having enjoyed the experience and feeling positive about their learning.

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Depending on the age of your child, you can prepare them by explaining that they will be doing different activities and puzzles to find out about how they learn best. They may also be asked to do some writing and reading. Your child will need to bring a pencil or a pen and a drink. They may also like to bring something to do (such as a book or game) for when the assessment is finished and while it is being scored.

At BICP we use two main cognitive assessments – both are well evidenced assessment tools based on extensive research with high validity. The one used with your child will depend on the nature of the assessment and age of your child. Your child will complete the tests that are most suited to identifying their needs. These are:

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The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth UK Edition (WISC V-UK)​

 

The WISC V for children aged 6.0 to 16.11yrs provides a comprehensive measure of overall intellectual ability, as well as five specific cognitive domains that impact performance in the classroom and beyond. The five domains include verbal comprehension, fluid reasoning, visual spatial processing, working memory and processing speed.

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The British Abilities Scale, Third Edition (BAS3-UK).

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The British Ability Scales 3 (BAS3) is a collection of individual tests that are used to assess the general thinking and reasoning skills of children aged from 3 to 17 years. The tests are designed to measure abilities that are important for learning, such as problem solving, remembering things, working out how things relate to one another and understanding language.

For both assessments, scores are normed and compared against those which would be expected of children of a similar age.

 

If appropriate, an overall Full-Scale IQ (or General Conceptual Ability GCA) score can be calculated that provides information about your child’s overall intellectual functioning.

 

The assessments can also be used to show discrepancies between different areas which provides insight into your child’s strengths and any areas of difficulty.   

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Throughout the assessment, your child’s approach to tasks will be observed and commented on, as this can provide further helpful information.