Who can diagnose dyslexia in the UK?

Educational psychologists and specialist teachers holding a current Assessment Practising Certificate diagnose dyslexia in the UK, not GPs or the NHS. A full assessment is usually paid for privately.

The two people who can do it

A formal dyslexia diagnosis comes from a diagnostic assessment, and only two kinds of professional are qualified to carry one out:

• An educational psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (the HCPC, the body that licenses psychologists). An educational psychologist, or EP, assesses how a child learns rather than treating an illness.
• A specialist teacher or assessor who holds a current Assessment Practising Certificate (an APC). The APC is the licence that makes an assessment count. It is issued by a body approved by the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC), and the three approved bodies are the British Dyslexia Association, The Dyslexia Guild, and PATOSS. An APC lasts three years and only stays valid while the assessor keeps up their membership of the body that issued it.

Why the GP and the NHS don't do it

This is the part most parents are surprised by. Dyslexia is not diagnosed through the NHS clinical pathway the way autism and ADHD are. A GP cannot diagnose it, and there is no free NHS dyslexia assessment service to be referred to. The NHS's own dyslexia page says the assessment is done by an educational psychologist or a specialist teacher, not a doctor.

Because there is no NHS route, a full diagnostic assessment is almost always something you pay for privately. You arrange it directly with an assessor or through an assessment service, rather than waiting for an NHS referral.

A school screening is not a diagnosis

Your child's school can help. The SENCO (the teacher in charge of special educational needs) can arrange a screening test, which is a quick check that flags whether a fuller assessment might be worthwhile. A screening is useful, but it is not a diagnosis and cannot give you one. Only a full diagnostic assessment by an EP or an APC-holding specialist teacher can do that.

One more thing worth knowing, because it changes what you do next: your child does not need a formal dyslexia diagnosis to get help at school. Schools must support any pupil with special educational needs through SEN Support, based on what the child finds difficult, with or without a label. A diagnosis can clarify the picture and is needed as evidence for some things later, such as a Disabled Students' Allowance at university, but it is not the gate to everyday classroom support.

Finding an accredited assessor

When you choose an assessor, check the credential, not just the title. An educational psychologist should be HCPC-registered; a specialist teacher should hold a current APC issued by a SASC-approved body. If the assessment is meant to support a Disabled Students' Allowance claim, the assessor must hold a current APC for the report to be accepted.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.