Teachers ‘not clinically trained’ to diagnose neurodivergence, MSPs told
More than 42,000 children were waiting for a neurodevelopmental assessment as of March 2025, a report showed.
Educators are “not clinically trained” to diagnose neurodivergence, a Scottish Parliament committee has heard as rising waitlists are being linked to school absence.
The Education and Gaelic Committee met on Tuesday to discuss declining school attendance, which has not recovered to the level it was at before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Helen Waggott, president at the Scottish Guidance Association, a forum which supports children and young people, told MSPs that while there has been an increase in neurodivergent pupils, teachers are having to navigate support for those not able to receive diagnosis due to high waiting lists.
She said: “We’re dealing with a large number of young people who do not have a neurodiverse diagnosis because the waiting lists are currently so long, or in some areas the CAMHS waiting lists have been closed to new referrals.
“We’re having to work with young people from our knowledge of conditions to support them within school, and these young people haven’t yet even got a diagnosis.”
More than 42,000 children were waiting for a neurodevelopmental assessment as of March 2025, according to a report published by the Scottish Parliament on neurodevelopmental pathways and waiting times.
The report showed the longest time on average a child could wait to receive an assessment on the NHS was nearly four years.
Ms Waggott continued: “I work with young people who’ve been on waiting lists for CAMHS since primary school or have got a diagnosis and are on waiting list for CAMHS medication reviews, so are still not being supported by mental health.
“Schools are having to step in to actually almost support families when we’re not clinically trained. We’re educators, we’re not clinically trained in that. We can support, but we’re not there to diagnose young people.
“We’re being asked time and time again for that information from parents, and being asked on a weekly basis, if not more, for their children to be put forward for diagnosis.”
To support the recovery, the Scottish Government published revised attendance guidance in March 2026. Education Scotland has also undertaken work on improving attendance.
The committee met with the aim of understanding how schools and councils are implementing the guidance, and whether it is leading to improvements.
It is also looking into how schools identify and respond to persistent absence, how multi-agency working is supporting individual pupils and how schools and councils are sharing effective practice.
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.