Our psychologists administer:

• Psychometric tests (See our Test Library for details)
• Questionnaires
• Interviews with the child or adolescent themselves
• Interviews with parents and family members where relevant.

By conducting comprehensive psycho-diagnostic assessment, clear and effective decisions can be made as to the best therapeutic and counselling direction to overcome the child or adolescent's specific challenges. To achieve this goal, we administer:

• Standardized tests eg, (IQ) Intelligence, reading, mathematics, etc. (See our Test Library for details)
  
• Conduct interviews
  
• Use children's drawings, request teachers' reports, and so on.

Once all information is gathered, through confidential discussion with the family, the child or adolescent themselves, we interpret the psycho-diagnostic findings.

Psycho-diagnosis properly conducted speeds up the process of healthy change by clearly identifying the underlying needs for:

• Effective therapy
• Counselling
• Coaching
• And ensuring that treatment efforts are not unnecessarily wasted.

When we conduct a psycho-diagnostic assessment we focus primarily on the following aspects of effective psychological functioning:

• Emotional
• Social Skills
• Family Relations
• Peer Relations
• Personality
• Clinical (psychiatric)Disorders (where relevant)

Career Assessment is useful for adolescents from the early teens onwards, especially when making career decisions involving:

• Tertiary level training at university
• College
• Apprenticeships, and so on.

Subject choices in early high school or even late primary school are often crucial in deciding their future career paths. To assist young people in making their best decision regarding future career success, study direction and subject choices, our psychologists use:

• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Psychometric tests (See our Test Library for details)
• And active dialogue with the young people themselves and their families.

During our career assessments the following core areas are focused on:

• Aptitude and (IQ) Intelligence
• Interests
• Personality
• Values
• Emotional predispositions
• Social orientation
• Emotional (EQ) Intelligence
• Motivation

Once a career assessment is completed and the findings shared with the client and their family or other significant people in their world, a career development plan is typically generated. Should:

• psycho-diagnostic
• psycho-educational
• neuropsychological

problems present during the career assessment, their remedy can be built into the career development plan. Mostly, however, study and institution options are considered and career counselling provided where confusion or uncertainty exists to ensure optimal decision-making regarding the individual adolescent's chosen career path.

To better understand the emotional and social adjustment of the individual adult seeking assistance, our psychologists administer:

• Psychometric tests (See our Test Library for details)
• Questionnaires
• Interviews with the client themselves
• And with spouses and family members where relevant.
  

By conducting comprehensive psycho-diagnostic assessment, clear and effective decisions can be made as to best therapeutic and counselling direction to overcome the client's specific challenges. To achieve this goal, we administer standardised tests (e.g. Emotional functioning, personality and conduct interviews.)

Once all information is gathered, through confidential discussion with the client and other significant people where necessary, we interpret the psycho-diagnostic findings.

Psycho-diagnosis properly conducted speeds up the process of healthy change by clearly identifying the underlying needs for:

• Effective therapy
• Counselling
• Coaching
• And ensuring that treatment efforts are not unnecessarily wasted.

When we conduct a psycho-diagnostic assessment we focus primarily on the following aspects of effective psychological functioning:

• Emotional
• Social Skills
• Family Relations
• Peer Relations
• Personality
• Clinical (psychiatric) Disorders

Clinical neuropsychology is a specialist branch of psychology that focuses on the relationship between the brain (neurological system) and the psychological functions of adults. It specifically considers the relationship of various brain or neurological disorders and the adult's day to day psychological functioning; that is, their:

• Behavioural
• Emotional
• Social
• Occupational adjustment

Adult clinical neuropsychological problems might be caused by:

• Injury (eg, car accident, or fall)
• Illness (eg, Alzheimers, stroke)
• Developmental trauma (eg, premature birth)
  
• Inherited (eg, primary ADHD)
  
• Substance induced (e.g TIK abuse)
  
• Neuro-psychiatric disorders (e.g. bipolar, schizophrenia)
  

Our neuropsychological assessments assess the following core domains of functioning using specialized psychometric testing instruments (see to our Test Library for details):

• General (IQ) Intelligence
• Language
• Executive functioning/attention
• Sensorimotor
• Memory & learning
• Visual-spatial

After careful neuropsychological assessment, findings are consolidated with any psycho-diagnostic or psycho-educational considerations. Recommendations for therapeutic management are generated, and may include:

• Psychotherapy
• Remediation
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational therapy
• Learning assistance
• Family counselling, and so on.

Please also refer to our medico-legal reports page of our website for further information on adult clinical neuropsychology.

When assisting a person to adjust to educational challenges at universities or colleges for further education, our psychologists follow the same methodology described as above under Psycho-Diagnostic assessment for Adults but focus especially on the following areas of effective psychological functioning:
See our Test Library for details

• Intellectual Ability
• Scholastic Achievement - Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Oral skills
• Concentration & Attention (ADHD & other related problems)
• Memory
• Sensorimotor Ability
• Visual-motor Skills
• Motor-Coordination
• Study Skills
  

in a nutshell, a psycho-educational assessment with adults attempts to identify:

• Correlations between an individuals natural abilities and their relative academic achievements and performance; that is, the ability-achievement gap or discrepancy.
• The extent and nature of the ability-achievement gap.
• Research-based recommendations to bridge this potential gap.

Initiatives involving:

• Remedial learning
• Study skills
• Psychotherapy
• Counselling
• Skills enhancement
• Life coaching
• Educational placement
• Occupational therapy
• Family and parent counselling

are examples of the many possibilities for creating positive change in order for the individual adult to reach their full potential.

Further study options may be considered together with optimizing career planning and growth given the individual's previous experience, training, and educational background. Psycho-Educational initiatives are often usefully combined with "Career and Vocational Assessment".

Career assessment is useful for adults when:

• Reviewing their past, present and future career paths
• Making career transitions
• Reformulating career goals
• Reviewing personal strengths and weaknesses for optimal career success
• Identifying the relative fit of the individual with specific work roles
• Enhancing optimal career success for further career coaching initiatives
• Identifying possible further study options for career success and this can be combined with Psycho-Educational initiatives

To assist people in making their best decision regarding future career success, our psychologists use:

• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Psychometric tests (See our Test Library for details)
• Active dialogue with the clients and other significant people in their lives as necessary.

During our career assessments the following core areas are focused on:

• Aptitude and (IQ) Intelligence
• Interests
• Personality
• Values
• Emotional predispositions
• Social orientation
• Emotional (EQ) Intelligence
• Motivation

Once a career assessment is completed and the findings shared with the client and other significant people in their world as required, a career development plan is generated. Should psycho-diagnostic, psycho-educational or neuropsychological problems present during the career assessment, their remedy can be built into the career development plan. Mostly, however career focussed counselling is provided to ensure optimal decision-making regarding the client's chosen career or vocational path success.

What are Exam Concessions?

An exam concession, also known as an accommodation or special arrangement, is a formally granted adjustment to the standard way a test or examination is taken. Its single, vital purpose is to create a level playing field. It is not about giving a candidate an unfair advantage; it is about removing the specific barriers that prevent a capable individual from accurately demonstrating their knowledge, skills, and potential under standard timed or written conditions.

In South Africa, these concessions are governed by specific policies set by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), Independent Examinations Board (IEB), and tertiary institutions. The process is built on the principle of fairness: a learner’s underlying cognitive or processing challenge should not be the thing that is measured. An exam concession is the bridge between a real, documented barrier and a fair opportunity for success.

This journey always begins with a comprehensive psycho-educational or neuropsychological assessment by a qualified psychologist. The goal is to identify why a seemingly capable child, adolescent, or adult underperforms in exams and to provide the empirical evidence needed to recommend the right support.

Exam conditions are inherently demanding. They test not just knowledge, but also a cluster of underlying skills: sustained attention, processing speed, working memory, reading fluency, spelling, and fine motor coordination for handwriting. For an individual with a condition like ADHD, Dyslexia, or an anxiety disorder, a standard exam doesn’t just measure subject knowledge – it primarily measures the impact of their difficulty. Common reasons for referral include:

• A bright child who cannot complete papers within the time limit.
• A student whose anxiety causes their mind to “go blank,” dramatically impairing recall.
• A learner who understands complex concepts but produces work with illegible handwriting or spelling errors that a teacher cannot follow.
• An adult pursuing a new degree or professional qualification who realises for the first time that an old, unaddressed learning difficulty is now a significant hurdle.

The specific concession granted is always matched to the individual’s documented needs. They are not a one-size-fits-all promise, but a tailored set of recommendations from the psychologist’s report. Common accommodations include:

• Extra Time: The most frequent concession, often essential for learners with slow processing speed, reading difficulties like dyslexia, or attention regulation challenges like ADHD.
• Scribe: A scribe writes down exactly what the candidate dictates, word-for-word, managing spelling and handwriting. This is vital for those with a specific learning disorder in written expression (dysgraphia) or a motor coordination challenge.
• Reader: A reader reads the entire question paper aloud to the candidate, crucial for learners with severe reading difficulties (dyslexia), where decoding text itself is a barrier.
• Use of a Computer: Allows a candidate to type answers, using spell-check and bypassing handwriting demands. This is a common modern accommodation for high school and tertiary students.
• Rest Breaks: Permits a candidate to stop the clock for short, supervised breaks to manage fatigue, maintain focus, or regulate high anxiety.
• Separate or Small-Group Venue: Reduces sensory overload and distraction, particularly helpful for individuals with ADHD, autism spectrum characteristics, or significant test anxiety.
• Prompter: A trained adult discreetly refocuses a candidate who has become distracted, often used for students with ADHD.
• Braille, Large Print, or Enlarged Print: For candidates with visual impairments.
• Alternative Examination Formats (Oral/Practical): For candidates with visual impairments.
• Communication Concession (South African Sign Language): Specifically for deaf candidates.

A successful application for any of these concessions requires a thorough, valid justification. Our process is aligned with the stringent requirements of education departments and boards, and it entails:

• Initial Consultation: We meet with the parents or the adult candidate to understand the full developmental, educational, and medical history, and to clarify the specific exam-taking difficulties being observed.
• Comprehensive Assessment: We conduct a tailored battery of standardised, clinically proven psychometric tests to objectively measure cognitive ability (IQ), memory, processing speed, phonological processing, reading, spelling, writing, and academic fluency. Crucially, we also screen for emotional factors like test anxiety, which are equally important.
• Integration and Feedback: Our analysis compares ability with achievement. A significant discrepancy – for example, a very high verbal intellect alongside very low processing speed – provides evidence for a concession like extra time. A feedback session is scheduled in which we explain these results, provide a clear diagnosis (if applicable), and offer actionable recommendations.
• Professional Report: The results are presented in a detailed, professional psychological report ready for submission to schools or examination/evaluation boards that outlines the key findings and clear, practical recommendations.
• Completion of Official Documentation: Our psychologists are experienced in completing the official application forms required by the relevant education department, various universities, or adult evaluation environments to facilitate a successful concession application.

The particular challenge and nature of the assessment shifts across different life stages, but the core principle of fairness remains constant:

• Children & Pre-Teens: The focus here is often on early identification for formal school assessments. We work to establish sound work habits early, reducing academic anxiety and preventing a cycle of failure before high school.
• Teens & Matriculants: This is the most critical juncture. The pressure is immense. Our robust, DBE/IEB-focused assessments are designed to secure the vital concessions needed for mid-year and final National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.
• University & College Student: Many previously undiagnosed learning or attentional issues emerge under the independent demands of tertiary study. We provide detailed reports so students can access time accommodations, lecture notes, or separate venues, helping them complete their degrees.
• Adults: An individual returning to study, or sitting professional board exams, can apply for accommodations based on a long-standing or newly diagnosed condition. We can provide the necessary documentation to petition these examining bodies on the principle of equitable opportunity.

Our goal is to guide each individual through this process with clarity and compassion, ensuring that the outcome is a true reflection of their ability, not their barrier.

Contact us to find out more about how a Concession Assessment could help your child, teen, young adult, or adult learner thrive academically!