Private ADHD Assessment in London & Online UK
Comprehensive ADHD assessments for adults, adolescents and children, led by an experienced Consultant Psychiatrist. Each assessment looks at symptoms, developmental history, how difficulties affect daily life, and whether another condition may be contributing — because ADHD cannot responsibly be diagnosed from a questionnaire or a single computerised test.
Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry, GMC registered (06032945), offering private ADHD assessment from London with secure online appointments available across the UK.
What Is an ADHD Assessment?
An ADHD assessment is a structured clinical evaluation carried out by a specialist to determine whether a person's symptoms and developmental history meet recognised diagnostic criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It considers inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity together with the degree of impairment those symptoms cause across different settings — home, education, work and relationships.
It is not a test you pass or fail. The purpose is to arrive at an accurate explanation for the difficulties you are experiencing, whether that explanation is ADHD, another condition, or a combination of both.
You may benefit from an ADHD assessment if you:
- Have persistent difficulty maintaining attention or completing tasks
- Frequently experience impulsive behaviours or poor self-control
- Feel constantly restless, hyperactive, or unable to stay focused
- Struggle with school, university, or workplace performance
- Experience relationship or family difficulties linked to ADHD symptoms
- Need an accurate, evidence-based diagnosis and treatment plan
Our ADHD Assessment Services
ADHD Adolescent Assessment
A comprehensive assessment for adolescents that evaluates attention, behaviour, emotional wellbeing, and developmental history while incorporating information from parents, caregivers, and educational settings.
£ 370
- 45–50 Minutes
- Remote Consultation
- Clinical interview with the adolescent and parent or caregiver
- Review of behavioural questionnaires and school reports
- Assessment using recognised ADHD diagnostic criteria
- Personalised treatment recommendations and next-step guidance
ADHD Adult Assessment
A detailed assessment designed for adults experiencing difficulties with attention, organisation, time management, impulsivity, and everyday functioning across personal and professional life.
£ 370
- 45–50 Minutes
- Remote Consultation
- Comprehensive review of symptoms and developmental history
- Assessment of work, education, relationships, and daily functioning
- Structured ADHD questionnaires and clinical interview
- Individualised treatment recommendations and management strategies
Computerised ADHD Assessment
An objective computer-based assessment that measures attention, concentration, impulsivity, and response control to support a comprehensive ADHD diagnostic evaluation.
£ 470
- 45–60 Minutes
- Remote Consultation
- Computerised testing of attention and impulse control
- Detailed performance analysis and clinical reporting
- Results interpreted alongside your psychiatric assessment
- Evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and treatment
How the ADHD Assessment Process Works
Fill in confidential questionnaires about your symptoms, medical history, and daily challenges before your appointment.
Meet with an experienced psychiatrist through a secure online consultation to discuss your concerns and clinical history.
Your symptoms, behaviour, developmental history, and assessment results are carefully reviewed using recognised ADHD diagnostic guidelines.
Receive a detailed explanation of your assessment outcome together with personalised recommendations for treatment, medication, coaching, or further support.
If ADHD is diagnosed, follow-up appointments can help monitor progress, optimise treatment, and provide continued specialist guidance.
Why Choose Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry?
- Extensive experience assessing ADHD in children, adolescents, and adults
- Evidence-based diagnostic assessments using recognised clinical standards
- Personalised recommendations tailored to each individual’s needs
- Holistic evaluations that consider home, education, work, and relationships
- Confidential, compassionate, and consultant-led psychiatric care
- Convenient online assessments available throughout the UK
Private ADHD Assessment With a Consultant Psychiatrist
NICE guidance (NG87) is clear that an ADHD diagnosis should be made by an appropriately qualified specialist, based on a full clinical and psychosocial assessment, developmental and psychiatric history and mental state examination — and that it should not be based on rating scales or observational data alone.
Assessment by a consultant psychiatrist has two practical advantages. First, coexisting psychiatric conditions are identified during the same consultation rather than being missed or deferred. Second, if medication becomes part of the plan after diagnosis, those decisions are made by a medically qualified doctor who already knows your history.
If you are unsure whether ADHD is the right starting point, a broader consultation with a private psychiatrist in London can help clarify that first.
Who May Benefit From an ADHD Assessment?
You may benefit from an assessment if you, or your child, experience:
- Persistent difficulty sustaining attention on tasks that aren’t immediately engaging
- Chronic procrastination, disorganisation and difficulty finishing what you start
- Poor time management and frequently underestimating how long things take
- Forgetfulness, losing items, missing deadlines or appointments
- Restlessness, difficulty settling, or a sense of being internally “driven”
- Impulsive decisions — in spending, speech, work or relationships
- Difficulty regulating frustration or emotional intensity
- Underperformance at school, university or work relative to ability
- Long-standing difficulties that were noticeable in childhood, even if never assessed
These difficulties are common in the general population. What matters clinically is their persistence, their presence since childhood, and the level of impairment they cause.
Private Adult ADHD Assessment
Many adults reach assessment after years of managing — often successfully in some areas — while finding ordinary organisational demands disproportionately difficult. ADHD is frequently identified in adulthood following a child’s diagnosis, a job change that removes external structure, or a period of burnout.
Adult ADHD Symptoms
Adult presentations often differ from the classroom picture. Overt hyperactivity tends to reduce, while inattention, restlessness and difficulties with organisation, motivation and emotional regulation persist. Common features include starting many projects and finishing few, difficulty with paperwork and admin, mental restlessness, and inconsistency — periods of intense focus alongside periods where routine tasks feel impossible.
ADHD and Work
Difficulties often centre on planning, prioritising, meeting deadlines, sustained reading and sitting through long meetings. A diagnosis can support reasonable adjustments in the workplace and inform practical strategies as well as treatment.
ADHD and Relationships
Forgetfulness, interrupting, difficulty listening for long periods and emotional reactivity can be misread by others as indifference. Understanding the pattern often changes how it is handled at home as much as at work.
For adults, assessment specifically looks at whether symptoms were present in childhood and have persisted, along with the resulting impairment — in line with NICE guidance.
ADHD Assessment for Children and Adolescents
Assessment of children and young people follows a different route from adult assessment, not a shortened version of it.
Developmental History
A detailed account of early development, milestones, behaviour, temperament, and when difficulties first became noticeable.
Parent, Carer and School Information
ADHD symptoms must be present in more than one setting. Information from parents or carers, and from school where available and appropriate, is an important part of the picture — reports, teacher comments or standardised observer questionnaires.
Wider Considerations
Assessment also covers emotional wellbeing, sleep, learning difficulties, social functioning and family circumstances, since each can affect attention and behaviour independently of ADHD.
How Is ADHD Diagnosed?
ADHD is diagnosed through comprehensive clinical assessment, not a single test. The clinician considers whether symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity are present at a level inconsistent with the person’s developmental stage, began in childhood, occur in more than one setting, and cause significant impairment — and whether another condition better explains them.
The assessment typically considers:
- Childhood symptoms and school history
- Academic and occupational functioning
- Attention, organisation and time management
- Impulsivity, hyperactivity and restlessness
- Emotional regulation
- Relationships, home life and daily routines
- Sleep quality and pattern
- Mood, anxiety and trauma history
- Alcohol, substance and stimulant use
- Physical health and current medication
- Family history of ADHD or other conditions
Questionnaires and rating scales support this process. They do not replace it.
What Happens During an ADHD Assessment?
Step 1 — Pre-assessment. You complete questionnaires and provide relevant background information, including school reports or observer information where available.
Step 2 — Clinical consultation. A detailed discussion of current symptoms, concerns and what prompted the assessment.
Step 3 — Developmental history. Childhood symptoms, schooling, early behaviour and how difficulties have evolved over time.
Step 4 — Functional assessment. How symptoms affect work or education, relationships, home life, finances and day-to-day organisation.
Step 5 — Mental and physical health review. Screening for coexisting and alternative conditions, current medication and physical health relevant to treatment.
Step 6 — Clinical formulation and differential diagnosis. The full picture is weighed against recognised diagnostic criteria, including whether another condition may better account for the symptoms.
Step 7 — Outcome and recommendations. You are told clearly whether ADHD is diagnosed, what that means, and what treatment and support options are appropriate — including what happens next if it is not ADHD.
Computerised ADHD Assessment
A computerised assessment measures aspects of attention, concentration, impulsivity and response control under standardised conditions, providing objective data to sit alongside the clinical interview.
It is important to be accurate about what this does and does not do. Computerised testing can add useful information, but it cannot diagnose ADHD on its own, and a normal or abnormal result does not by itself confirm or exclude the condition. Results are always interpreted within the wider clinical assessment, consistent with NICE guidance that diagnosis should not rest on rating scales or observational data alone.
ADHD and Coexisting Mental Health Conditions
Difficulties with concentration, motivation, restlessness and impulsivity are not unique to ADHD, and ADHD frequently occurs alongside other conditions. A comprehensive assessment considers both possibilities.
- Anxiety — worry and rumination impair concentration and can mimic inattention; anxiety also commonly coexists with ADHD. See private anxiety assessment.
- Depression — low mood affects motivation, memory and concentration. See depression assessment.
- Bipolar disorder — episodic changes in energy, impulsivity and sleep require careful distinction from the persistent pattern seen in ADHD. See bipolar assessment.
- PTSD and trauma — hypervigilance, poor concentration and emotional reactivity can closely resemble ADHD. See PTSD assessment.
- Substance misuse — stimulant, alcohol and cannabis use affect attention and are more common in people with ADHD. See addiction assessment and treatment.
- Sleep problems — chronic poor sleep produces inattention, irritability and impaired executive function. See insomnia treatment.
- OCD — intrusive thoughts and compulsions consume attention and can appear as distractibility. See OCD treatment.
The aim is not to complicate the picture but to make sure the diagnosis reached is the right one.
What Happens After an ADHD Diagnosis?
A diagnosis is a starting point rather than an endpoint. Following assessment you receive a written outcome and a discussion of appropriate options, which may include:
- Psychoeducation — understanding how ADHD affects you specifically
- Non-medication strategies — structure, environmental changes, organisational and behavioural approaches
- Medication — considered where clinically appropriate, with baseline checks and a period of titration and monitoring
- Support for coexisting conditions — treating anxiety, depression or sleep difficulties where present
- Workplace or educational support — information to support reasonable adjustments
- Follow-up — review appointments to monitor response, side effects and functioning
Medication is not automatic and is never the only option discussed.
Private ADHD Assessment in London
Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry provides private psychiatric assessment for ADHD in London, with clinic locations at Marylebone, Finsbury Park and Harley Street, subject to appointment availability.
Appointments are generally available without lengthy waiting times, and consultations are confidential. Harley Street and Marylebone serve central and west London; Finsbury Park serves north London and surrounding boroughs.
Online ADHD Assessment Across the UK
Secure video consultations are available across the UK. An online assessment follows the same clinical process: pre-assessment information and questionnaires, clinical interview, developmental history, functional and mental-health review, and a clear outcome with recommendations and follow-up.
Whether online assessment is clinically appropriate depends on individual circumstances — including age, complexity, the availability of observer information and any physical health considerations relevant to treatment. This is confirmed before your appointment.
Why Choose Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry?
- Consultant Psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry, GMC registered (GMC 06032945)
- Comprehensive, NICE-informed assessment rather than questionnaire-led screening
- Assessment of coexisting and alternative conditions within the same consultation
- Medication decisions made by a medically qualified psychiatrist
- Assessments for adults and adolescents, with clear guidance where a different service is more appropriate
- London clinic locations plus secure online consultations across the UK
- Continuity of care with the same consultant at follow-up
Read more about Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry or browse all psychiatric services.
ADHD Assessment Fees
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| ADHD assessment | £370 |
| ADHD assessment with computerised testing | £470 |
Follow-up appointment fees are confirmed at booking. Klarna interest-free instalments are available for eligible appointments.
Recognised insurers: Aviva, AXA Health, Preferred Health Care Ltd., Vitality Health, Bupa UK, WPA, Allianz Worldwide Care. Pre-authorisation is required using GMC Number 06032945.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ADHD assessment?
A comprehensive clinical evaluation used to determine whether symptoms and developmental history meet recognised diagnostic criteria for ADHD, taking account of attention, hyperactivity, impulsivity and the impairment they cause.
Who can diagnose ADHD in the UK?
An appropriately qualified specialist — such as a consultant psychiatrist or another suitably trained healthcare professional — following a full clinical assessment, in line with NICE guidance.
Can a psychiatrist diagnose ADHD?
Yes. Consultant psychiatrists are among the specialists qualified to diagnose ADHD and to manage medication where it is clinically appropriate.
What happens during an ADHD assessment?
A clinical interview covering current symptoms, childhood and developmental history, functioning at work or school, relationships, sleep, mental and physical health, followed by a formulation and a clear outcome with recommendations.
How is ADHD diagnosed in adults?
Through assessment of current symptoms alongside evidence that difficulties began in childhood and have persisted, cause impairment in more than one area of life, and are not better explained by another condition.
Can ADHD be diagnosed online?
Online assessment is possible and often appropriate, where the clinical circumstances allow. Some presentations — particularly more complex ones — are better suited to face-to-face assessment.
Do I need a childhood diagnosis to be assessed?
No. Most adults being assessed were never assessed as children. What is needed is a reliable account of childhood difficulties, which may come from memory, school reports or family.
Can anxiety or depression look like ADHD?
Yes. Both affect concentration, memory and motivation, and both can also coexist with ADHD. Distinguishing between them is a core part of the assessment.
Is a computerised ADHD test enough to diagnose ADHD?
No. Computerised testing provides supporting information about attention and impulse control but cannot establish a diagnosis on its own.
How long does an ADHD assessment take?
Assessment appointments are scheduled to allow a detailed clinical interview; the exact duration is confirmed at booking, and some cases require more than one appointment.
Do I need medication if I am diagnosed?
No. Medication is one option among several and is discussed according to symptoms, impairment, preferences and medical history.
Do you assess children and adolescents?
Adolescent assessment is available. Suitability by age is confirmed before booking, and referral is recommended where a specialist child service is more appropriate.
Clinical Guidance & Further Information
- NICE NG87 — Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management
- NHS — ADHD overview
- Royal College of Psychiatrists — ADHD in adults
Related reading: When Should You See a Private Psychiatrist? Signs to Look Out For
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