If your child’s teacher or SENCO has raised concerns about Autism or ADHD, one of the first questions you may have is: can the school actually make a referral?

The answer is sometimes. There is no single UK-wide school referral process for Autism or ADHD. Referral routes vary between local NHS services, and the professional who can submit a referral may be a GP, SENCO, health visitor or another professional depending on where you live.

That variation is one reason parents can receive completely different advice from families in another borough. The important thing is to separate three issues: who can formally refer, what information the school can provide, and what support your child can receive while you are deciding what to do next.

Possibly.

The NHS advises parents to speak to their GP about how Autism assessments work locally. It also explains that, for children, the school may need to make the referral in some areas. For children who are not yet at school, a health visitor may be involved instead. 

This means there is no reliable answer such as “all SENCOs can refer” or “only GPs can refer”.

Your local neurodevelopmental pathway determines who can submit the referral.

A sensible first question for your SENCO or GP is therefore:

“Who is allowed to refer into our local Autism or neurodevelopmental assessment pathway?”

That can save quite a lot of being passed backwards and forwards.

One parent may be told to speak to their GP. Another may be told that their SENCO needs to complete the referral. A third may be referred through another healthcare professional.

All three experiences can be genuine.

NICE recommends that local areas have a clear pathway for recognising, referring and assessing possible Autism, involving health, education and social care professionals. In practice, how that pathway is organised differs between areas. 

So advice from a friend in another part of the country may not apply to your child.

It is usually better to check your own local NHS or local authority guidance than spend weeks trying to work out which family has been given the “right” information.

Even where a SENCO is not the person who formally submits the referral, their input can still be extremely useful.

A SENCO may help to:

• discuss concerns with you and your child’s teachers
• gather observations from different lessons
• identify patterns affecting learning or school life
• put appropriate school support in place
• complete questionnaires requested during an assessment
• provide reports about your child’s presentation in school

That last point matters because neurodevelopmental assessments do not normally rely on what happens in one room on one day.

NICE recommends considering how signs or difficulties appear across different settings, including home and school. When further information is needed, assessment teams may seek information directly from educational settings, and NICE specifically recommends requesting a school or pre-school report once an Autism diagnostic assessment is proceeding.

So even when the school is not technically the referrer, it can still be an important part of the picture.

This is a common concern.

You may see emotional overwhelm, sensory difficulties, problems with routines or attention at home while school reports that your child is quiet, well behaved or managing academically.

That does not automatically mean either side is wrong.

Children can present differently depending on the demands of the environment. Some may also use coping strategies or mask difficulties in certain situations. NICE specifically notes that possible Autism can be under-recognised in girls and that signs can sometimes have been masked by coping mechanisms or a supportive environment. 

If home and school accounts differ, that difference itself can be useful information.

Rather than trying to prove which version is “correct”, it is more helpful to document what happens in each setting and look at the wider pattern.

A school’s view is valuable, but it is not the only information that matters.

NICE guidance says parents’ or carers’ concerns about development or behaviour should be taken seriously even where those concerns are not shared by other people. 

If you remain concerned, practical next steps could include:

• asking the school what it has observed
• requesting a conversation with the SENCO
• keeping examples of difficulties you notice at home
• asking your GP about the local referral route
• checking your local NHS neurodevelopmental pathway
• seeking another professional opinion where appropriate

You do not need to turn the situation into a disagreement with school. Different settings often reveal different parts of a child’s experience.

Not necessarily.

This is an important distinction because families can understandably become focused on obtaining a diagnosis before asking for anything else.

A diagnosis and educational support are related, but they are not the same process.

If your child is already struggling with attention, communication, sensory demands, organisation, emotional regulation or learning, you can speak to their teacher or SENCO about the support they need now.

Waiting for an Autism or ADHD assessment does not mean every practical adjustment has to wait as well.

That might include discussing clearer instructions, predictable routines, seating arrangements, movement opportunities, sensory considerations or additional learning support depending on the individual child.

Private pathways can work differently from local NHS referral routes.

At ASD Child Ltd, families can make direct contact to discuss their concerns rather than needing a GP referral first. The clinic also gathers educational information as part of its assessment process because understanding how a child presents at school remains clinically useful even when the family has self-referred. 

If you are weighing up the two routes, the Private vs NHS Diagnosis guide explains some of the differences without suggesting that one pathway is right for every family. 

You do not need to arrive with a huge folder.

A few useful observations can often tell you more than a long list of isolated incidents.

You could ask about:

• attention during lessons
• following multi-step instructions
• friendships and group work
• transitions between activities
• responses to changes in routine
• sensory difficulties
• organisation and homework
• emotional regulation
• playground or lunchtime experiences
• differences between structured and unstructured parts of the day

It can also be helpful to ask what support has already been tried and whether it changed anything.

That gives the professionals assessing your child a clearer picture than simply saying they are “fine at school” or “struggling at school”.

The most useful first step is often simpler than it sounds: find out who accepts referrals in your local pathway, then speak with the people who know your child in different settings.

If you are considering a private route and want to understand what happens from the initial conversation through to assessment and feedback, you can read ASD Child Ltd’s step-by-step Autism and ADHD assessment process.