Using assessment to inform support
This section supports the assess stage of the graduated response. It helps practitioners understand what they have noticed and why it matters.
Assessment should
- Build understanding of a child or young person’s strengths and barriers to learning and participation
- Use information from a range of sources
- Inform the next steps in the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle
- Lead to clear actions and regular review
Key message: Assessment informs provision. It is not an end in itself.
Key principles
In Somerset, assessment is:
- Ongoing, not a one-off activity
- Strengths-based, not focused on deficits
- Informed by multiple sources, including staff, children and young people, families, and other professionals
- Contextual, taking account of the environment, relationships, and curriculum
- Action-focused, leading to changes in practice and support
Assessment and provision
Assessment is not separate from provision. It helps practitioners understand needs and make informed decisions about support.
Effective assessment
Effective assessment should:
- Help practitioners understand strengths, needs and barriers to learning and participation
- Inform decisions about support, teaching and provision
- Lead to changes in practice
- Be reviewed regularly through the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle
- Include the views of children, young people and their families
Questions assessment should answer
Assessment should help practitioners answer:
- What are we noticing?
- What factors may be contributing to this?
- What are the learner’s strengths?
- What support is already in place?
- What should we do next?
What assessment does and does not do
Assessment informs provision. It is not an end in itself.
Assessment does not:
- Diagnose special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or determine provision on its own
- Confirm eligibility for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
- Replace professional judgement
- Predict future outcomes
- Remove the need for inclusive practice
- Provide all the answers through one tool or score
Assessment does:
- Help practitioners understand strengths, needs and barriers
- Inform provision and support planning
- Support decision-making
- Evaluate the impact of support
- Help identify appropriate next steps
- Bring together information from multiple sources
Remember
Good assessment:
- Considers strengths as well as barriers
- Includes the views of the child or young person and their family
- Takes account of the learning environment, relationships and wider context
- Leads to action through the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle
Assessment tools and approaches
Before choosing a tool or checklist, consider:
- Have concerns appeared over time and in different settings?
- Have you identified strengths as well as barriers?
- Have you reviewed Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP)?
- What does the learner say about their experience?
- What do parents or carers say?
- What information do you already have?
No single tool should be used in isolation. Professional judgement remains essential.
Universal Assessment
Use universal assessment to identify early signs of need and inform inclusive practice.
What this includes
- Observation over time
- Curriculum-based and formative assessment
- Review of progress and participation
- Discussions with learners and parents or carers
Typical tools and approaches
All phases (birth to 25)
- Structured observation, including the learning environment and interactions
- Review of work and learning over time
- Baseline assessments and progress tracking
- Informal wellbeing check-ins
- Conversations with parents and carers
Early years (birth to 5)
- Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework
- Development Matters guidance
- Birth to 5 Matters guidance
- Two-year progress check
- WellComm language screening
- Leuven Scales for wellbeing and involvement
School-age learners
- Teacher assessment frameworks
- Reading, writing and mathematics assessments
- Boxall Profile for initial screening
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire where universal screening is appropriate
Post-16 learners
- Initial assessment of literacy, numeracy and functional skills
- Learner self-assessment and aspirations
- Independence and life skills checklists
- Preparation for adulthood discussions
Universal assessment helps practitioners identify what they are noticing, understand a learner’s strengths and needs, and make appropriate adjustments through Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice.
Targeted Assessment
When to use targeted assessment
Use targeted assessment when concerns continue despite effective Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP) and patterns remain consistent over time. It helps practitioners explore specific areas of need in greater detail and plan targeted support.
Types of targeted assessment tools
There are many assessment tools which may help to identify specific needs. The Somerset Graduated Response does not promote or prefer any specific assessment over another. Schools and settings may use any evidence-informed assessment tool they have access to, providing it is evidence-informed. Below are some examples of assessment tools which might be used.
Cognition and learning
- Standardised reading and spelling assessments, such as GL Assessment and the New Group Reading Test (NGRT)
- Dyslexia screening tools, such as Lucid Rapid and Dyslexia Portfolio
- Working memory checklists
- Diagnostic mathematics assessments
Communication and interaction
- WellComm for targeted assessment
- Language Link or Speech Link
- Communication checklists, such as ICAN tools
- Social communication screening tools, such as the Social Responsiveness Scale
Sensory and physical
- Movement assessment checklists
- Fine and gross motor skills checklists
- Sensory processing checklists, such as the Sensory Profile
- Environmental audits to review classroom or setting adaptations
Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)
- Boxall Profile
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for targeted assessment
- Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS)
- Emotion regulation checklists
- Anxiety screening tools for low-level assessment.
Cross-cutting tools for all age groups
- Individual behaviour or incident logs
- Attendance and engagement analysis
- Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequence (ABC) tracking
- Setting, Trigger, Action, Result (STAR) tracking
- Structured learner voice activities
- Strengths and needs profiles
- Participation and inclusion reviews
Purpose of targeted assessment
Targeted assessment should:
- Clarify specific barriers to learning or participation
- Inform targeted strategies and interventions
- Support planning through the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle
- Support discussions with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) and families
Key message: Targeted assessment provides a deeper understanding of identified concerns and helps practitioners choose appropriate support and next steps.
Specialist assessment and advice
When to consider specialist assessment
Consider specialist assessment and advice when:
- Needs are persistent or complex
- Progress remains limited despite targeted support
- Multiple areas of need interact and affect learning or participation
Specialist support may include:
- Educational Psychology
- Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)
- Occupational Therapy (OT) or Physiotherapy
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) or mental health services, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- Specialist Support Services – (Hearing and Vision, Alternative and Augmentative Communication, SEND Technology, Habilitation)
- Specialist advisory teachers in other areas of need
Specialist involvement does not replace the graduated response. Settings remain responsible for planning, delivering, reviewing and adapting provision through the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle in partnership with children, young people, families and professionals.
Purpose of the specialist assessment
Specialist assessment and advice can:
- Provide a more detailed understanding of needs
- Support personalised and specialist provision
- Inform the next steps within the graduated response
Assessment across different phases (0 to 25)
Early years
Assessment should:
- Use play-based and observational approaches
- Focus on interaction, communication and development
- Involve close partnership with parents and carers
- Avoid over-reliance on formal testing
School-age learners
Assessment should:
- Link closely to curriculum access and progress
- Identify barriers to learning within classroom contexts
- Balance standardised tools with professional judgement
Post-16 learners
Assessment should:
- Focus on preparation for adulthood
- Consider independence and life skills
- Assess communication in real-life contexts
- Support employability and participation
- Place the young person’s voice at the centre of the process
Good practice in assessment
Good assessment:
- Uses more than one source of evidence
- Does not rely on a single score, checklist or screening tool
- Revisits assessment through the review stage of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle
- Involves the learner and their family at every stage
- Considers strengths alongside barriers
- Examines environmental factors as well as individual needs
- Focuses on what will change in practice as a result
Using the guidance documents
The guidance documents work together to support the graduated response. They help practitioners:
- Identify needs
- Understand what may be contributing to them
- Choose appropriate support strategies
- Plan, deliver and review provision.
The guides below link directly to this section, How do you understand it? and support key stages of the process:
- Quick Checkers – What are you noticing?
- Strategy Banks – What approaches and provision might help?
- Assess, Plan, Do, Review tools and templates – How do you plan, implement and review support?
Assessment should support effective decision-making and positive outcomes, rather than becoming an end in itself.