Child psychology assessment report template

A child psychology assessment report answers the referral question in plain terms. It sets out the relevant background, what you did and observed, what the results mean for this child, and what should happen next. The template below gives you nine sections you can copy into your own system and adapt to your clinic.

What a child or adolescent psychological assessment report includes

Reports differ by service and by purpose, but most good ones cover the same ground. This is one common structure, not a regulatory requirement.

• Referral question. Who referred the child, and what they want to know. Every later section should serve this question.
• Background. Developmental, medical, family, educational and social history that bears on the question. Say who provided each piece of information, so the reader can weigh it.
• Assessment methods. Interviews, observation, questionnaires and standardised tests, with the edition of each test and the date. Record who completed each questionnaire (parent, teacher, the young person).
• Results. What was found, reported responsibly (see below).
• Formulation. Your clinical reasoning: how the history, observations and results fit together, what you think is happening and why, and what you considered and set aside.
• Recommendations. Specific, ordered actions for the family, the school and other providers.

Reporting scores responsibly

Scores are evidence, not the conclusion. A few habits make reports safer to read and act on.

• Name the test, edition and norm group, and note any departure from standard administration.
• Report the score together with its confidence interval or range, and describe it in words as well as numbers.
• State how far the child's engagement, fatigue, language, vision, hearing or anxiety may have affected performance, and whether you consider the results a valid estimate.
• Keep observation separate from interpretation. "He left the room twice during the verbal tasks" is an observation; "He avoids language tasks" is an interpretation and needs support.
• Do not rely on one measure. A diagnostic statement should rest on history, observation and more than one source of data.
• Do not reproduce test items or protocols in the report. Describe what a task measures, not its content.

The template

Copy this block into your document system and delete any prompt that does not apply.

Identifying details

[Child's name, date of birth, age at assessment] [Parent or guardian name(s) and who holds decision-making authority] [School or early learning service, year level] [Dates of assessment sessions, location, assessing psychologist]

Reason for referral

[Who referred, when, and the specific questions to be answered] [What the family hopes to learn]

Background information

[Birth, developmental and medical history relevant to the question] [Family and social context, as the family has agreed to share it] [Education history, supports already in place, previous assessments] [Sources of information and who provided each]

Assessment methods

[Clinical interviews: who, when] [Behavioural observations: setting and duration] [Standardised tests: name, edition, date administered] [Questionnaires and rating scales: name, who completed] [Records reviewed] [Any departures from standard administration, and why]

Behaviour during assessment

[Engagement, attention, communication, mood, response to breaks] [Whether results are likely to be a valid estimate of ability]

Results

[For each domain: what was measured, score or range with confidence interval, plain-language description] [Strengths as well as difficulties] [Rating-scale results, noting who rated and any differences between raters]

Formulation and summary

[How the history, observations and results fit together] [Diagnostic impression, if one is made, and the evidence for it] [Alternative explanations considered] [Limits of the assessment]

Recommendations

[Numbered, specific actions, each with who is responsible] [Supports for home, school and other services] [Referrals or further assessment needed] [Suggested review date]

Consent, sharing and sign-off

[Who consented to the assessment and to sharing this report, and with whom] [Any sections withheld or summarised for a particular reader] [Psychologist name, registration number, signature, date]

Write a one-page plain-language summary for the family last, once the rest is settled.

Writing for parents and schools

The same report usually has several readers: parents, a paediatrician, a teacher, a school learning-support team. Write the main report for professionals, but make sure a parent can follow the results, the formulation and the recommendations without a glossary.

• Explain a term once, in ordinary words, the first time it appears.
• Describe what the child can do, not only what is hard for them.
• Make each recommendation concrete enough to act on. "Provide a quiet space for tests" works better than "support attention."
• For a school, put classroom-relevant findings and recommendations where a teacher will find them. You may choose to give the school a shorter report than the family receives.
• Check that the formulation does not say more than the data allow, especially if the report may be used to apply for funding or adjustments.

Consent and privacy when sharing with schools

A school is a separate recipient, and sharing a report with one needs a decision, not an assumption.

• Ahpra's shared Code of conduct, which the Psychology Board's own code is aligned with, expects practitioners to obtain informed consent before disclosing information and to document that consent where possible. It also expects them to follow the privacy and health records laws of their state or territory.
• For children and young people, the code says views should be heard and parents, carers or guardians involved as appropriate. Consent from a young person depends on their maturity and capacity to understand the proposed care.
• Health information is handled under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, which the OAIC's guide to health privacy explains for health service providers, including use and disclosure, access and correction.
• Confidentiality has limits. The code notes exceptions where disclosure is required or authorised by law, and it expects mandatory reporting obligations, including child abuse and neglect, to be met.
• The Psychology Board of Australia's code of conduct for psychologists took effect on 1 December 2025 and replaced the APS Code of Ethics as the Board's regulatory code. Check the current text for your practice.

In practice, record who agreed to share the report, with which school, and whether the whole report or a summary goes. Where parents separated or share decision-making unevenly, confirm who can consent before you send anything. Rules vary by state and territory, so confirm your obligations locally.

Common mistakes

• Scores with no meaning. A table of numbers the reader cannot interpret.
• No answer to the referral question. The report describes the child at length and never says what the referrer asked.
• Diagnosis from one source. A conclusion drawn from a single test or questionnaire.
• Observation and interpretation mixed. Judgements written as if they were things you saw.
• Vague recommendations. "Monitor progress" with no owner or timeframe.
• Copied-forward text. Background or recommendations carried over from an earlier report without checking they still apply.
• Jargon for lay readers. Terms left unexplained for parents and teachers.
• Sharing without a recorded decision. Sending the full report to a school when the family agreed only to a summary.
• Identifying details left in. Another child's name appearing in a school observation or a sibling's history.

Syntropic Health drafts reports like this from the whole case, in your clinic's template; the clinician reviews and signs. See clinical reports.

Sources

• psychologyboard.gov.au
• ahpra.gov.au
• oaic.gov.au
• oaic.gov.au