Meets criteria

The criteria are not invented by the team on the day. They come from one of two big diagnostic manuals, the World Health Organization's ICD-11 or the American DSM-5-TR, which set out what must be present, how strongly, and for how long, for each diagnosis.

Does not meet criteria Referral criteria The rules a service uses to decide which referrals it will accept. You can ask to see them, and answer them point by point if you need to refer again. Read the full definition of Referral criteria is a statement Statement of SEN in Northern Ireland The legal paper in Northern Ireland that sets out a child's help at school. England ended statements, but they still run in Northern Ireland. Read the full definition of Statement of SEN in Northern Ireland about a definition. It means the evidence gathered on that occasion did not match a fixed checklist. It is not a statement that your child has no difficulties, that the difficulties are not real, or that no support is needed.

If the letter says the criteria were not met, you can ask which criteria, what the team did find, and what they recommend instead. Their findings are still professional evidence of need, and help at school is based on need, not on a diagnosis.