The numbers
These come from NHS England data and a 2025 parliamentary committee report, not from us:
National averages hide how much this varies by postcode. Reported local waits include:
- Birmingham — at least 32 months for autism, at least 19 months for ADHD
- Sheffield — between two and a half years and in excess of eight years
- NHS Right to Choose providers — around 12–18 months for a child aged 0–19
The committee report also noted that these figures are incomplete: they don't capture every child waiting, so the true numbers are likely higher rather than lower. If you feel like you've been waiting an unreasonable length of time, the data says you probably have.
Why the waits are this long
It isn't one failure, it's three at once. Referrals have risen sharply as awareness has improved, particularly for girls and for children who mask well and were previously missed. Assessment capacity — the specialist paediatricians, psychologists and speech and language therapists who do this work — has not grown at anything like the same rate. And a proper neurodevelopmental assessment is genuinely slow: it needs developmental history, information from school, validated questionnaires and clinical time. It can't be safely rushed.
That's also why nobody can honestly promise you a same-week diagnosis. Anyone who does is either cutting corners on the assessment or overselling.
Your child stays on the NHS list either way
Getting a private assessment does not remove your child from the NHS waiting list, and it doesn't affect their NHS care. Some families do both — they get answers sooner privately and stay on the NHS list for ongoing support. You don't have to choose one and give up the other.
Option 1 — NHS Right to Choose (free)
This is the one we most often find parents haven't heard of, so we'd rather tell you about it than not.
In England, you generally have a legal right to choose which provider carries out your child's first outpatient appointment for a condition, including neurodevelopmental assessment. That can include independent providers who hold an NHS contract. If your local service has a five-year queue and a Right to Choose provider has a twelve-month one, you may be able to ask your GP to refer there instead — and it's still free on the NHS.
It isn't a magic fix. Reported Right to Choose waits are still commonly 12–18 months for children, availability varies, not every provider takes every age group, and your GP has to make the referral. But if cost is the deciding factor for your family, this route should be the first thing you explore, ahead of paying anyone — including us. Ask your GP about Right to Choose, or look up which providers currently hold contracts in your area.
Option 2 — Stay on the NHS list and get support now
A diagnosis is not the entry ticket to help, and it's worth pushing on this while you wait. Schools can put support in place without one. Ask your child's SENCO directly what they can do now, on the basis of what they already observe. Many will act if asked plainly. Your local parent carer forum will know your area's system better than any website, and it's free.
Keeping a short, dated diary of what you're seeing — what happened, where, what came before it — is also genuinely useful. Whoever eventually assesses your child, NHS or private, will be glad of it, and patterns show up in writing that memory smooths over.
Option 3 — Private assessment
This is what we do, so treat what follows as us describing our own service rather than as neutral advice.
A private assessment typically takes weeks rather than years. At Extra Special Children's Clinic the assessment is carried out online by an MRCPCH-qualified specialist paediatrician with more than seven years' experience in children's health and development, and you get a detailed written report with practical recommendations you can share with your child's school. Our fees are fixed and published: £395 for ADHD, £545 for autism, £795 for a combined assessment.
We assess and write the report. We do not prescribe medication. If your child would need medication, that's a conversation with your GP or an NHS service, and you should factor that in before paying for a private assessment.
When private isn't the right answer
If your child's difficulties are recent, confined to one setting, or clearly tied to something specific going on — a hard year at school, a change at home, sleep, anxiety — an assessment may not be what helps, and a diagnosis won't fix it. If cost would be a real strain, Right to Choose above is a better first step. We start every family with a free 15-minute call precisely so we can say this out loud when it applies, before anyone has paid us anything.
What we'd suggest
- Ask your GP about NHS Right to Choose — it's free, and worth ruling in or out first.
- Ask your child's school what they'll put in place now, without waiting for a diagnosis.
- Start a dated diary — useful for whichever route you end up on.
- If you want to talk it through, book a free 15-minute call with us. No charge, no obligation, and we'll give you an honest view — including if that view is that you don't need us.
Sources: NHS England autism waiting time statistics; House of Commons committee report on autism
and ADHD assessment services (2025); published NHS Right to Choose provider waiting times.
Figures were correct as at the dates published by those sources and change over time — please
check current figures for your own area.
This page is general information about assessment services and waiting times. It is not medical
advice and not a diagnosis. In an emergency call 999, or 111 for urgent NHS advice.