Referral criteria

Every assessment service has criteria: what ages it sees, what evidence it wants, and what level of difficulty it accepts. They are local and they vary a lot, which is why one family's experience of a service can be so different from another's a few miles away.

If a referral referral When a professional passes your child on to a specialist team for assessment or treatment. A GP, school or health visitor can usually make one. Read the full definition of referral is rejected as not meeting criteria, ask for the decision and the criteria themselves in writing. A rejection is rarely the end: a re-referral re-referral Asking for your child to be referred again, later, when things have changed or new evidence has built up. A no now is not a no forever. Read the full definition of re-referral that speaks to each criterion directly, with new or clearer evidence, is often accepted.

The criteria are usually published on the service's or the local NHS organisation's website, and your GP GP Your family doctor. For many families the GP is the first person to talk to, and the person who refers your child on to a specialist. Read the full definition of GP or the school's SENCO SENCO The teacher in your child's school who leads support for children with special educational needs. They are usually the quickest person for a parent to reach. Read the full definition of SENCO can help you match your evidence to them.