ADHD support in UK primary schools: what actually exists

Parents and teachers searching for "the ADHD toolkit for schools" often assume there must be one official, government-issued document that tells every UK primary school exactly what to do. There is not. What actually exists is a patchwork: a statutory framework for support in England, a clinical guideline for diagnosis and management, and a set of practical classroom resources produced by charities rather than by government. This article sets out what each of these is, so parents and teachers know where to look and what to expect.

There is no single national ADHD school toolkit

It is worth saying plainly: there is no single official UK-wide "ADHD toolkit" issued by government or the NHS specifically for schools. What is available instead falls into three broad categories:

1. A statutory framework for identifying and supporting additional needs in England (the SEND Code of Practice). 2. A clinical guideline covering diagnosis and management of ADHD, including a section on liaison between healthcare and education (NICE guideline NG87). 3. Charity-produced practical guides aimed specifically at classroom teachers, such as those from the ADHD Foundation.

Understanding which of these does what helps avoid confusion when a school, a GP or a parent forum refers to "the ADHD guidance" without specifying which one.

The SEND Code of Practice (England)

The SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years is statutory guidance for schools, early years providers and local authorities in England. It sets out the legal duties schools have to identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities, and it does not require a child to have a formal diagnosis, of ADHD or anything else, before support can begin.

In practice, this means a Sheffield or London or Manchester primary school can and often does put in place classroom adjustments, additional support or an assessment of educational need under the SEND Code of Practice while a child is still waiting for, or has never had, an NHS ADHD assessment. Parents in England who want to understand what support their child's school is legally expected to provide should ask to speak to the school's Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) and can refer to the Code of Practice as the underlying framework.

It is important to note that the SEND Code of Practice applies specifically to England. Scotland has its own framework built around the Additional Support for Learning (ASL) system, Wales operates the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) system, and Northern Ireland has its own special educational needs framework. Families outside England should check the equivalent arrangements for their nation rather than assuming the SEND Code of Practice applies to them.

NICE guideline NG87: a clinical guideline, not a school resource

NICE guideline NG87, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management, was originally published on 14 March 2018 and has been updated since. It is a clinical guideline aimed primarily at healthcare professionals, covering how ADHD should be diagnosed and managed, including approaches to treatment.

NG87 does address liaison between healthcare and education, recognising that schools have a role to play alongside clinical services. But it is not written as a classroom handbook, and it does not set out day-to-day teaching strategies in the way a school-facing resource would. Teachers and parents looking for practical, in-class strategies will generally need to look elsewhere, even though NG87 remains the reference point for how ADHD should be clinically assessed and managed in the first place.

Charity resources: the ADHD Foundation

Where NICE NG87 and the SEND Code of Practice leave off, charities have stepped in to produce more directly usable classroom material. The ADHD Foundation, a UK neurodiversity charity (not a government body), publishes a dedicated schools section on its website, offering resources aimed at teachers and school staff.

Among these is the ADHD Foundation's "EPIC Strategy Booklet: a guide for teachers," a downloadable guide setting out classroom strategies. Because this is charity-produced material rather than a statutory or NHS document, it should be understood as practical, supplementary guidance rather than an officially mandated toolkit. Schools are free to use it, adapt it or draw on other resources instead, and its use is not a legal requirement in the way that duties under the SEND Code of Practice are.

Why demand for this kind of support is rising

NHS England's independent ADHD Taskforce, in its Part 1 report (published 20 June 2025, updated 9 December 2025), highlights that demand for ADHD assessment is rising faster than NHS services can keep pace with, and that waiting times for children can extend to four or more years. This underlines why support that does not depend on a formal diagnosis, such as SEND Code of Practice provisions in England and charity-produced classroom resources, matters in practice: children may be waiting years for an NHS ADHD assessment, but a school does not need to wait for that outcome before offering support.

A practical walkthrough for parents

If you are a parent in England concerned about your primary-age child's attention, concentration or behaviour at school, here is a realistic order of steps:

• Speak to the class teacher first, to understand what they are observing day to day.
• Ask for a meeting with the school's SENCo, who can explain what support is already available under the SEND Code of Practice and whether a more formal assessment of educational need might help.
• Contact your GP if you have concerns about your child's wider health or development. A GP cannot diagnose ADHD themselves but can discuss referral routes.
• Look at charity resources, such as the ADHD Foundation's schools pages and its EPIC Strategy Booklet, which your child's teacher may also find useful, bearing in mind these are supplementary, not statutory, materials.
• Be realistic about NHS assessment timescales. Given the waiting times reported nationally by NHS England, support at school and at home in the meantime is often more immediately available than a clinical assessment.

A note for teachers

Teachers do not need to wait for medical confirmation to make reasonable, low-cost adjustments in the classroom, such as adapting instructions, seating or breaking tasks into smaller steps, informed by resources such as the ADHD Foundation's EPIC guide. Where a child's needs appear more significant, the SEND Code of Practice sets out the formal routes (such as an Education, Health and Care needs assessment) that a school and parents can pursue together.

ADHD Tribe offers non-clinical coaching for parents navigating school support and everyday routines around ADHD. This sits alongside, and does not replace, the statutory SEND process, NHS assessment, or clinical guidance such as NICE NG87.

Understanding the difference between "statutory" and "supplementary" support

One of the most common sources of confusion for parents is the difference between things a school is legally required to consider, and things a school may choose to use because they are helpful. The SEND Code of Practice falls into the first category: it creates duties that schools and local authorities in England must follow when identifying and supporting a child's additional needs. NICE guideline NG87 sits in a different category again: it is authoritative clinical guidance, but it is written for healthcare professionals managing diagnosis and treatment, rather than a document that creates duties for schools. Charity resources, such as the ADHD Foundation's EPIC Strategy Booklet, are a third category entirely: genuinely useful, freely available, but not something any school is obliged to adopt, and not a substitute for either of the other two.

Understanding which category a piece of guidance falls into can save a lot of frustration. A parent who quotes NICE NG87 to a school expecting it to create a legal obligation may be met with confusion, because that is not what the guideline is for. Equally, a school that treats a charity's classroom booklet as if it were a statutory requirement is overstating what that resource actually is. Being precise about which document does what tends to lead to more productive conversations between parents and schools.

A worked, hypothetical example

Consider a hypothetical Year 3 pupil, whom we will call Sam for the purposes of illustration only. Sam's teacher notices that Sam struggles to finish written work, frequently loses items of school equipment, and finds it hard to sit still during longer lessons. There is no ADHD diagnosis, and the family has not yet approached their GP.

Under the SEND Code of Practice, the school does not need a diagnosis before taking a first step. A sensible sequence might look like this: the class teacher raises what they are observing with Sam's parents and with the school SENCo; the SENCo considers whether classroom-based adjustments (such as visual timetables, movement breaks, or shorter, chunked tasks) are appropriate as a first response; if difficulties persist despite these adjustments, the school and parents might discuss whether a more formal assessment of educational need is warranted. Separately, and on their own timeline, Sam's parents might choose to raise their concerns with their GP, who can discuss whether an ADHD assessment referral is appropriate. These two processes, school-based SEND support and NHS clinical assessment, can run in parallel rather than one waiting for the other, which is precisely the point of the SEND Code of Practice not requiring a diagnosis first.

Questions parents can bring to a SENCo meeting

Preparing a short list of questions before meeting a school's SENCo can help make the most of limited time, such as what adjustments are already in place, how the school will monitor whether they are working, and whether a referral for a formal assessment of educational need has been considered. Keeping a simple written note of what is agreed at each meeting, including dates, is a sensible habit that both parents and the school can refer back to later.

Keeping records while an NHS assessment is pending

Given reported NHS waiting times, many families will be managing schoolwork and behaviour concerns for a considerable period before any NHS ADHD assessment takes place. Keeping dated notes of concerns raised, meetings held, and adjustments tried at school is not a legal requirement, but tends to be genuinely useful for tracking progress and for providing background if a formal assessment does eventually take place.

A reasonable, non-clinical way to think about the whole picture

None of the frameworks described in this article guarantee a particular outcome, and none of them are a substitute for one another. The SEND Code of Practice exists to ensure schools consider and respond to additional needs; NICE NG87 exists to guide clinical diagnosis and management; charity resources exist to give teachers practical ideas to try in the classroom. Used together, sensibly, they can support a child considerably before, during and after any formal NHS ADHD assessment, but families should go in with realistic expectations about what each piece of guidance can and cannot do.

References

• NICE guideline NG87: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management
• SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years
• ADHD Foundation: Schools resources
• ADHD Foundation: The EPIC Strategy Booklet, a guide for teachers
• NHS England, Report of the Independent ADHD Taskforce, Part 1