How to Read a Speech and Language Therapy Report and Turn It into Classroom Action
A report lands in your inbox. It’s fourteen pages, it contains the phrase “standard score of 78, below the first percentile”, and it ends with six recommendations, one of which is “targeted intervention to support expressive language”. You have twenty minutes, a provision map to update, and an annual review on Thursday.
Reports are written by clinicians for a mixed audience of families, other clinicians and local authorities, which is why they do not always arrive in the form a SENCo needs. This article is about extracting what you need from one quickly, and knowing what to do when the information isn’t there.
What each section is for
Most speech and language therapy reports follow a similar structure, whoever wrote them.
- Background and case history: The developmental and medical picture, and what prompted the referral. Read this carefully if anything is new to you, as it may provide useful context for school.
- Observations: What the therapist saw. This is one of the most useful sections and the most frequently skipped. It tells you how the pupil responded to an unfamiliar adult in a structured situation, which may be a different context from the one you see in school.
- Formal assessment: Standardised test results with scores. These can help describe a pupil’s performance compared with the test’s reference group, but they need to be interpreted alongside other information.
- Informal assessment: Language sampling, play-based or curriculum-based observation. This is often where practical detail about the pupil’s communication comes through.
- Summary and clinical impression: The therapist’s professional judgement. If you read only one section, read this one.
- Recommendations: What should happen next, and by whom.
Making sense of the scores
Standardised scores compare a pupil’s performance with that of a reference group of children of the same age. Three things are worth understanding.
Many standard scores have an average of 100, and a standard deviation of 15. On tests using this scale, roughly two thirds of the reference group score between 85 and 115. Other assessments use different scoring systems, so check the test and its guidance before interpreting a number.
Percentiles tell you how a pupil’s score compares with the reference group. A pupil at the 9th percentile scored as well as or better than approximately 9 per cent of the reference group, and below the scores of approximately 91 per cent. Percentiles are not percentages correct, and the differences between percentile ranks are not equal across the scale.
Age equivalents can look useful but need particular care. An age equivalent of 5 years 2 months for a nine-year-old does not mean the pupil is generally like a five-year-old. It means they obtained a particular score that corresponds to the average raw score of children of that age on that test. Age equivalents should not be used on their own to describe a pupil’s overall abilities or decide provision.
Scores can help describe a pupil’s performance in a particular area, but they rarely tell you what to teach on Monday. Read them alongside the assessment conditions, observations, language sample, developmental history and the therapist’s clinical interpretation. A score on its own does not determine the pupil’s diagnosis, classroom needs, provision or eligibility for funding. For national standards on how these scores and clinical data should be evaluated, you can refer to the RCSLT Outcome Measurement Guidance.
Turning recommendations into provision
Recommendations vary enormously in how usable they are. As you read, it can help to sort them into three groups.
- Universal: Strategies that should be available to the pupil throughout the school day, such as additional processing time, chunked instructions or visual support. These can be built into classroom practice and the pupil’s passport or support plan.
- Targeted: Specific work that needs a named adult, a frequency and a resource. These recommendations need to be reflected in the provision map, with details of who will deliver the support and how progress will be reviewed.
- Specialist: Work that requires a Speech and Language Therapist or a trained assistant working under appropriate supervision. These recommendations need an agreed service arrangement and clear responsibilities.
These groups are a practical planning aid rather than fixed categories. The right approach will depend on the pupil and on the recommendation in the report.
For each targeted recommendation, write down four things before you close the report: who is delivering it, how often, with what resource, and how you’ll know whether it’s working. If these details are missing, ask the therapist to clarify them.
If this is starting to sound like a second job, that’s a fair reaction, and it’s one reason we write our reports with the provision map in mind. We separate universal, targeted and specialist recommendations where appropriate, and aim to make the next steps clear and practical for school staff. We’ll also talk a SENCo through any report we’ve written rather than leave them to decode it alone.
Watch for vagueness, particularly in EHCP contexts
If a report is going to inform an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), specificity is important. The provision ultimately included in Section F should clearly describe the special educational provision required to meet the child’s needs.
“Access to speech and language therapy support” does not explain what support will be provided, how often or by whom. More specific wording might describe weekly individual sessions delivered by a Speech and Language Therapist for a defined period, alongside the programme and review arrangements. The precise wording should reflect the child’s assessed needs and the professional recommendations.
If a report you are relying on uses broad wording, go back to the author and ask for clarification. For EHCP purposes, ensure the recommendations are considered alongside the wider evidence and the relevant statutory requirements.
Questions worth asking the therapist
Most therapists would far rather answer four questions than have their report misapplied for a year. Ask these.
- “If we could only do one thing from this report, what should it be?”
- “What should we expect to see in six months if this is working?”
- “Which of these recommendations need you, and which can school staff deliver?”
- “What would make you want to see this pupil again sooner?”
When the report doesn’t help
Sometimes a report is genuinely difficult to use in school: there may be no classroom-facing recommendations, no indication of what school staff should do differently, or a set of generic suggestions that could apply to any child. This can happen, and it is reasonable to ask for more detail.
Go back to the author and ask for a short addendum with classroom-specific recommendations. If the report came from a private assessment commissioned by the family, the family can request this. A useful report should help the people around the pupil understand their communication profile and decide what to do next.
London Speech Therapy writes assessment reports for schools and families across London, Kent and Essex, including reports to inform EHCP processes. We’ll always talk a SENCo through a report rather than leave them with fourteen pages and a provision map. Email enquiries@londonspeechtherapy.co.uk or call 020 3475 2189.
