Online learning screeners offer parents a faster route to SEN support

As families face rising demand and lengthy waits for formal assessments, online tools are helping parents organise concerns and start more focused conversations with schools, without replacing professional diagnosis.

Parents worried that a child is falling behind in reading, spelling, writing or maths are increasingly turning to online screening tools for answers. MyMemoryMentor’s learning difficulties check is aimed at giving families a quicker, clearer starting point: it looks for signs linked to dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADHD, executive functioning difficulties and related concerns, then turns the results into a plain-English report that can be shared with a teacher or special educational needs co-ordinator. The company says the tool is designed to help parents move from uncertainty to a more focused conversation about support.

That distinction matters. In the UK, dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia are classed as specific learning difficulties, or SpLDs, which affect particular skills rather than overall intelligence. The NHS says dyslexia is common and can show up in reading, writing, number work, planning and organisation, but it is not the same as a learning disability. A screener can highlight possible concerns, but diagnosis still requires a qualified professional, such as an educational psychologist or a specialist assessor for dyslexia, and a clinician for ADHD.

The case for earlier screening is strengthened by the scale of need in schools. Department for Education figures for January 2026 showed that 20.8% of pupils in England had special educational needs, with 14.8% on SEN support and 6.0% holding an education, health and care plan. The number of pupils with an EHC plan rose to 538,500, while only 46.1% of new plans in 2025 were issued within the legal 20-week timeframe. For families stuck waiting, a structured screener can provide evidence sooner, even if it does not replace a formal assessment.

The British Dyslexia Association says many children in the UK are not routinely screened for dyslexia, although schools often use screening tools to identify pupils who may need extra help or a full assessment. The NHS advises parents who suspect dyslexia to speak first to the school’s SENCO, who may recommend a screening test before considering a referral for further assessment. In practice, that makes the school setting central: a screener can prompt the right conversations, but it works best when it is one part of a wider support process rather than a stand-alone answer.

MyMemoryMentor says its screeners cover a broad range of issues, from reading, phonological processing and comprehension to number sense, handwriting, attention, memory, anxiety and mood-related concerns. The company says the questionnaires or tasks can be completed by a parent, teacher or child, usually in less than 10 minutes, and that the resulting report is intended to be useful both for families and for professionals. It also says the tool can help SENCOs and educational psychologists decide whether a child needs targeted intervention, a specialist assessment or a referral.

For families in England, the next step after a screening result is usually to take the report to the class teacher and SENCO and ask how the school will respond under the graduated approach of assess, plan, do and review. If school support is not enough, parents or the school can seek an EHC needs assessment from the local authority. The government’s schools white paper, published in February 2026, proposed wider SEND reform, including staff training and an inclusion strategy for schools, but current rights to SEN support and EHC assessments remain in place until any new legislation is passed. For parents, the main message is simple: if concerns have been building for a term or more, waiting for the next parents’ evening may not be the best option.