How parents can support schools in identifying learning difficulties

Practical steps to help teachers spot the signs and get support in place for your child sooner.

Parents are often the first to sense that something is not quite right, long before a pattern is obvious in a busy classroom. You can support the identification process by keeping clear records of what you see at home, raising concerns early, and understanding how schools in England identify learning difficulties. Many children with genuine needs are misread as lazy, distracted or unmotivated for years before anyone investigates, and the quieter strugglers are the most likely to be missed. The aim is to become an active partner in the process rather than waiting for the school to notice on its own. Plain-language definitions of the terms used here are in our glossary.

Specific learning difficulties are common. Around 10% of people in the UK are thought to be dyslexic, about 4% severely, though this is a long-standing estimate rather than a precise figure (British Dyslexia Association). Dyscalculia affects roughly 6% of people, and NICE estimates that around 5% of children have ADHD. Even so, identification is frustratingly inconsistent, particularly for girls, children from lower-income families, and those whose difficulties do not fit an obvious pattern.

Understanding what schools look for

Schools watch for specific patterns, and these work best when parents add what they see at home. Teachers look for slow, laboured reading despite good teaching, persistent confusion with number sequencing or place value, inconsistent spelling of the same word within one piece of writing, or frequent loss of materials combined with difficulty completing multi-step tasks.

The difficulty is that many signs are easily misread. Reading avoidance may reflect phonological processing challenges, and frustration that looks like defiance can be a response to unmet learning needs rather than a behaviour problem. Research from Durham University notes that difficulties often present differently by gender, with boys more likely to act out and girls more likely to struggle quietly. This is where a parent's perspective becomes genuinely valuable, because you see your child in contexts the school never does.

Your role in the identification process

Keep a clear record

The most useful tool a parent has is documentation. Keep a simple log with specific dates and examples: when your child avoids homework, takes unusually long to finish, or shows anxiety specifically around schoolwork rather than social situations. Note the difference between occasional struggles and persistent patterns. A child who consistently reverses letters beyond the early primary years, cannot retain times tables despite practice, or has strong spoken language but struggles to organise written ideas may be showing signs of a specific learning difficulty. A dated, factual record carries far more weight in a conversation with the school than a general impression.

Raise concerns early and specifically

Do not wait for parents' evening to raise a concern. Contact your child's teacher or the school's special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) as soon as you notice a consistent pattern. Be specific rather than general: instead of "my child struggles with reading", try "my child can decode individual words but reads very slowly and avoids reading aloud, especially during homework". Early, specific communication lets teachers observe more closely and adjust their approach before difficulties compound.

Understand the school's process

In England, support is governed by the SEND Code of Practice (2015). There is no single national screening test for specific learning difficulties; instead, where a need is identified, the class teacher and SENCo follow a graduated approach of assess, plan, do and review, normally revisited with you at least once a term. Knowing this helps you ask informed questions: what support is in place, when it will be reviewed, and what the school has already tried. Our guide to how schools identify learning difficulties explains the process in more detail.

Addressing identification inequities

Identification is not applied evenly. Research from Durham and Oxford universities (2026), analysing records of around 540,000 primary-age children in England, found that whether a child is identified depends not only on attainment but on their school, gender, family income and first language. After accounting for academic attainment, boys were about twice as likely as girls to be identified, and children who struggle quietly, those with English as an additional language, and those from deprived areas were less likely to be recognised. Fewer than 2% of pupils in England are identified with a specific learning difficulty, against international estimates that 5 to 10% are affected.

You can help counter this by advocating specifically for your child while understanding the wider context. If your daughter is struggling but appears compliant, or your child attends a school where low achievement is common, you may need to be more persistent in asking for the graduated approach to be applied and, where appropriate, for an assessment.

How Qwixl:Milo can help you build evidence

Conversations with school go better when you can point to something concrete. Qwixl:Milo is a student-side tool that works in Google Docs, designed for students and the families supporting them, including those waiting for assessment or support. As your child writes, Milo surfaces processing indicators (signals, not diagnoses) that can help you and the school see patterns over time, and its evidence pack gives you an organised summary to bring to a meeting with a teacher or SENCo. It does not diagnose or replace the school's statutory process; it helps you arrive at those conversations with useful, structured information rather than a hunch. Where the school itself wants whole-class visibility, the teacher-facing Qwixl:Homework platform plays the equivalent role for staff.

Taking action when concerns are not addressed

If your concerns are not being addressed, you have rights. In England, a parent, young person or school can ask the local authority for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment. The authority must decide whether to assess and respond within 6 weeks, and where it proceeds the full process up to a final plan must complete within 20 weeks. If the authority declines, it must explain why in writing, and you have the right to appeal. Free, independent advice on your rights and how to request an assessment or appeal is available from IPSEA.

The goal, though, is partnership rather than confrontation. Framing requests around wanting to support your child's success, rather than criticising the school, tends to work better. Most teachers and SENCos want to help, but may be working with limited resources or training. Our guide on how to advocate for school support sets out how to approach this constructively.

Moving forward together

Effective identification depends on sustained collaboration. Your observations from home, the school's classroom expertise, and the graduated approach together create the fuller picture needed for accurate identification. Identification is only the beginning: the same partnership that supports it will be essential for putting support in place and reviewing whether it works. By becoming an informed, proactive partner, you help make sure your child is recognised and supported as early as possible.