Private ADHD Assessments for Teenagers

Being a teenager comes with balancing school, friendships, family, and sometimes part-time work. If you notice your teen struggling with focus, restlessness, or keeping up with daily demands, an ADHD assessment for adolescents can provide clarity and guidance.

Our assessments help families understand how attention, organisation, and executive function affect everyday life and how best to support your teen. ADHD assessments for teenagers are available online throughout the UK where appropriate, and also in-person at our clinics in the South East of England.

A woman smiling as she helps a teenage boy with his homework at a kitchen table

With you at every step

How an adolescent ADHD assessment helps

An ADHD assessment provides families with insight into how your teen’s attention, organisation, and executive functioning may affect school, home life, and social interactions. Understanding these differences is not about labelling, it’s about helping you and your teenager access strategies, guidance, and support that make everyday life more manageable. You’ll be seen by clinicians who specialise in adolescent neurodevelopment - people who understand how attention, executive function and social expectations affect teenagers at school and home. These are the stages of the ADHD assessment process:

step
1

Screening

Our clinician-led initial screening determines whether a structured ADHD assessment is indicated. We review current experiences, daily functioning and information from home or school to advise on the most appropriate next steps.

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step
2

Information Gathering - School/College

To understand functioning across settings we request a recent school / college report and an online screening questionnaire. Teachers complete structured forms about attention, organisation and social interaction. If you’re not in education, we ask for collateral input from another suitable professional or an adult who knows you well.

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step
3

Assessment

Our adolescent ADHD assessments are multidisciplinary, led by clinical psychologists or consultant adolescent psychiatrists with expertise in adolescent neurodevelopment. Online assessments are conducted throughout the UK where clinically appropriate, and also at our clinics in Kent and Hampshire.

We gather developmental history, standardised ADHD measures, clinician interviews, and collateral information from school and home.The assessment identifies patterns of attention, executive functioning, and emotional regulation, including masking behaviours. Following assessment, families receive a clear report with personalised recommendations for practical support, strategies, and, where appropriate, treatment options.

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step
4

Diagnostic Report

You will receive a comprehensive diagnostic report that provides a detailed breakdown of each aspect of the assessment process, key observations, and whether you meet the criteria for ADHD. The report provides practical recommendations for home and school, helping you understand the best ways to support your development, learning and wellbeing. Our reports follow recognised UK clinical standards and are commonly accepted by the NHS, educational institutions and other services.

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step
5

Treatment / Support

If ADHD is indicated, our team guides families through support options, including behavioural strategies, educational adjustments, and discussion of medication in line with NICE guidelines. Specialist prescribers assess suitability, initiate plans, and review progress, ensuring ongoing care is coordinated with your teenager’s GP or NHS services. Our goal is to help families feel informed, supported, and equipped with strategies that work for their teen’s everyday life.

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Two young people laughing and playing cards indoors at a table.

Understanding ADHD in adolescence

What is ADHD in teenagers?

ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) can affect attention, organisation, impulsivity, and daily functioning. In adolescents, signs may differ from younger children, such as difficulty focusing on study, challenges with organisation, restlessness, impulsivity, or social difficulties. Recognising ADHD provides clarity for families and educators and opens the door to practical strategies and support.

Getting assessed

What are the benefits of acting now?

A timely ADHD assessment gives clarity about your teen’s strengths and challenges, helping families work with schools and other services to put strategies and accommodations in place that support learning, wellbeing, and daily life. It can help you understand how your teen experiences school or college, and provide practical tools to make learning and daily routines easier. You’ll also gain clearer communication with teachers, guidance on the support your teen is entitled to, and insight into planning next steps, whether that’s college, university, an apprenticeship, or work. In the UK, private ADHD assessments offer a quick and straightforward way to get this clarity, so your family can move forward with confidence. Contact our team to arrange a consultation.

Challenging Behaviours

Challenging Behaviours

Children with ADHD can be very tricky to manage as they are not always able to respond to your requests and direction. Due to their impulsivity and high levels of activation, they might find it difficult to listen, stay on task or sit still. This can be very stressful, especially with the pace of life and competing demands from family, school and work. Families can get stuck in unhelpful cycles, where parents become frustrated with their children and children act-up more as they can’t always do want is wanted.

Difficulties with friends

Difficulties with friends

Social relationships at school can also suffer due to ADHD. Children can be unintentionally bossy or directive with their friends – their impulsivity and hyper-focus make it difficult to maintain positive relationships. Girls with ADHD might show their traits differently and have more internalised difficulties. They may also struggle with their self-esteem.

Difficulties at School

Difficulties at School

Children with ADHD can find it hard to reach their potential and often feel ‘told off’ more than their peers due to their difficulty in sticking to the rules. ADHD has nothing to do with how clever a child is but when a child can’t concentrate long enough to solve a problem, they won’t be able to show their true potential.

Testimonials

Some words from our adolescent patients

We've helped thousands of patients over the years, and here are some of their thoughts.

Psicon exceeded our expectations.

From the referral from our local GP, we were kept informed every step of the way. The timescales we were given were shorter on every occasion. The staff were lovely, professional and friendly.

We have been delighted with the service.

We had a wonderful experience from beginning to the end, great waiting times for an ADHD assessment, great communication, professional, we have been delighted with the service.

We felt listened to and respected at every step of the assessment process.

Everyone whom we had contact with from Psicon where amazing and friendly. We felt listened to and respected at every step of the assessment process. We were well informed of each step and always asked if we had any questions.

We couldn't be more grateful to the great team at Psicon.

Great communication and service from Psicon. My daughter was seen by lovely doctors under the right to choose pathway and we couldn't be more grateful to the great team at Psicon.

The whole process took between 6-8 weeks from start to finish.

I couldn’t be more grateful for Pscion. After waiting years on the NHS for my sons ADHD assessment and him constantly being failed by everyone, we decided to go privately instead. The whole process took between 6-8 weeks from start to finish.

Highly recommended.

Highly recommended, Psicon has made what is an important but stressful journey to diagnosis a little bit more easier

Compassionate and caring service.

Compassionate and caring service. I felt heard and listened to during my appointment, where I was able to learn about my new autism diagnosis.

Amazing service with a short wait time.

Amazing service with a short wait time. Everyone I had contact with were friendly, understanding and helpful.

A very smooth and stress free service.

An amazing service from both the clinicians and specialists that saw myself and child, were very helpful, informative, went above and beyond with advise and support. A very smooth and stress free service, thank you

Finally able to enjoy life to full.

Life changing! Been able to learn a lot of methods to help with my mental health issues, and finally able to enjoy life to full. Can’t thank you enough!

I was made to feel at ease straight away

The doctor was very patient and understanding and I was treated with the utmost respect. I came away feeling well informed and I have a plan moving forward for my condition.

Speech & Language Therapist

It is a privilege to work in partnership with the expert staff team at Psicon and the child/family-centred approach to clinical practice is reflected at every level of the organisation.

Thank you once again for all of your help Psicon!

An outstanding company. Are always willing to help on the phone with any questions, concerns or problems. I would recommend them to anyone.

Fantastic clinic. I would highly recommend.

I chose to go here to get diagnosed privately. Sadly I have been let down by the NHS since my childhood in the 1980’s and I decided I had to go private, but I would say it was worth every penny and the long drive from my home. Lovely professional staff. Thank you.

Quick efficient service.

I could not have been happier with timescales, responses and communication.

The centre is a lovely welcoming place and the professionals put my highly anxious son at ease.

We went to the children's centre to get my son aged 17, a private assessment. From the start the staff were informative and helpful. The centre is a lovely welcoming place and the professionals put my highly anxious son at ease. In fact he even asked when we were going back! After negative experiences with the NHS and school, my son felt that he could finally access support that was right for him. Thank you 😊

Would highly recommend Psicon for any assessments

Absolutely amazing with my son, very easy to talk to and my son loved interacting with the staff.

I would recommend this service to anyone that I know.

I attended the practice in June of 2022. The practice had such welcoming and kind staff members. This really eased any anxieties I had about going to the practice, and set a very calming atmosphere.

Excellent communication and explanation throughout the assessments.

All staff seemed very knowledge, were prompt and courteous and we were given a conclusion by the end of the assessment

All practitioners were friendly, understanding and really knowledgeable

All practitioners were friendly, understanding and really knowledgeable and informative. They managed to put my anxious daughter at ease. They listened carefully, and were responsive to what we were saying. They also gave helpful suggestions to think about with the school and within the family.

Exceptional service.

The sessions were well organised. The psychologist was outstanding and it was like they knew me after just a couple of sessions. I would 100% recommend this service. I feel so much better and am going forward with several tools to keep me mentally healthy. I cannot recommend this service enough.

As a parent, it gave me the reassurance that my daughter will grow up knowing how her mind works

My daughter came out of her ADHD assessment feeling very positive about herself and empowered. As a parent, it gave me the reassurance that my daughter will grow up knowing how her mind works and what she needs to put in place to help herself along the way. We are very grateful to have been given such high quality care.

Occupational Therapist

It’s great to work in such a supportive environment. I really appreciate the CPD on offer and the chance to work with so many highly experienced clinicians.

Working with Psicon has meant that I have been able to meet colleagues from a range of clinical backgrounds. This has enriched and broadened my own clinical knowledge.

Speech & Language Therapist

I really value the opportunity to work with a whole host of highly skilled and passionate clinicians as a multi-disciplinary team. I always come away from a day in clinic having learned something new - either from the clinician I'm working with or from the young people we've met! I appreciate Psicon's forward-thinking and positive approach to the diagnosis of Autism and feel confident that our assessments and reports are neurodiversity-affirming.

Occupational Therapist

I have worked as an associate for Psicon for 5 years and have enjoyed it tremendously. Everything is made so easy for you to do your job as an ADOS assessor, and you are supported every step of the way. I have made some lifelong friends and have travelled to beautiful places in the UK.

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

I like to work with Psicon as it is a well organised firm with some very good appointments to management that makes a big difference. I can take my difficulties there and it can be solved. It uses an IT system that works well. In effect it can then render a quality service to the patients.

What I enjoy and value about working in the Psicon associate team: Excellent pre-assessment information collection. The flexibility of a mixture of face to face and remote appointments.

I really enjoy working as part of such a well organised service with wonderful colleagues. I am always learning from families and the team.

Since joining Psicon, what's impressed me is the sense of professional community and collective support that appears to be carefully and purposefully nurtured in the team. The clarity provided in terms of work processes, areas of responsibility, and support helped me as an associate to feel confident and valued in delivering as a part of the clinical team. I appreciate the flexibility offered to associates and the transparency of Psicon's work allocation approach.

I am a relatively new Associate with Psicon but from the start have felt part of a very supportive team. Despite working remotely, the training and support that I have had from Psicon has been comprehensive. In my clinical work I have enjoyed working alongside talented and supportive colleagues. Being an Associate has also given me an opportunity to pursue a better work life balance.

All staff are trained immaculately!

All staff are trained immaculately! Very kind, very helpful. Just wonderful. I could not have asked for a better service!

They treated me like I was a person

They treated me like I was a person and demonstrated they treat each individual on a case to case base using treatments tailored to the individuals needs. They listened without judgement offering to treat individuals with complex needs.

From the minute we arrived staff were welcoming and professional.

From the minute we arrived staff were welcoming and professional. Thank you for listening and helping my son to be as comfortable as possible. You were so attentive to his ways and the consultant, speech and language therapist had extensive knowledge and were able to pick up on things I wasn’t even aware of. The support throughout was amazing, everything was explained in detail and I would definitely recommend Psicon to others. Thank you again.

I've found the team at Psicon warm, professional, and supportive. Working for Psicon has been great for my own professional development, learning from others in the MDT both through working side by side in assessments and through others sharing their knowledge and experience in the reflective practice meetings held by Psicon for their associates. I find the work with Psicon very contained, each day is like a separate project, which means it works well alongside the other work I do. The pay is also great!

Working as an associate with Psicon has meant access to a range of high quality CPD opportunities, and working within such a skilled MDT also allows for many more professional development opportunities day to day.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Anything you’d like to ask us?

Taking the first steps to understanding why you feel different, unhappy, or struggling takes courage. We’re here to help you find the support that’s right for you.

See all our FAQs

Yes. Our assessments fully comply with NICE guidelines and are conducted using a highly regarded clinical model. Your teen will be seen by a specialist clinician (a paediatrician or psychiatrist) as part of the assessment, which is not always the case with private services. We are also a trusted NHS provider and frequently work with NHS Trusts and ICBs to support waiting lists. This means a diagnosis from our service is generally accepted by both the NHS and schools or colleges when supporting adjustments.

ADHD can show up in many different ways, and some teenagers learn to mask or camouflage their difficulties; this is especially common among girls. Our assessments are designed to pick up on these subtle signs. We gather information from multiple sources, including home, school, and objective measures such as the QB Check, an online test that compares attention and activity levels against typical ADHD patterns. The results help our clinicians get a clear picture, even when behaviours aren’t obvious, ensuring the assessment reflects your teen’s real-world experiences.

Lack of concerns from school does not rule out ADHD. Some teenagers cope well in structured environments but struggle at home or during periods of high demand. We take all settings into account, and the assessment remains valid even if school reports do not highlight significant difficulties.

Some teens only start showing clear signs of ADHD as school, social life, and daily responsibilities become more demanding.Teenagers with ADHD may struggle to focus, control impulses, or keep tasks and schedules organised, even when they’re putting in their best effort. A thorough assessment by a specialist, such as a clinical psychologist or adolescent psychiatrist, can help determine whether ADHD is contributing to these challenges and what support might help.

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We're with you at every step

Every teenager’s mind works differently. If you have concerns about your teen’s social communication, sensory processing, or daily functioning, our private autism assessments provide families with clarity, understanding, and practical strategies to support your teen’s wellbeing and success.

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