Psychoeducational and Neurodevelopmental Assessments
International School of Madrid
Educational Psychology Assessments for International School of Madrid Students
The International School of Madrid has won 104 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards since 2009, regularly more than any other Cambridge centre in Spain.
Cambridge International has its own specific access arrangements framework. The evidence threshold requires a standard score of 84 or below, a percentile rank of 15 or below, or a scaled score of 6 or below, with named subtests, current dating, and assessor qualifications that meet Cambridge standards.
Global Education Testing delivers Cambridge-compliant psychoeducational and neurodevelopmental assessments to ISM families via secure video link. The 20 to 30 page diagnostic report is anchored in DSM-5-TR and ICD-11, written in English by HCPC-registered educational psychologists, and structured to meet Cambridge International alongside JCQ, the College Board (SAT, ACT, AP), Spanish EvAU, and university learning support services in a single document.
Access is immediate. The process takes 21 days. The assessment costs EUR 2,650 with sibling discounts available.
What a Comprehensive Psychoeducational Assessment Examines
A comprehensive psychoeducational assessment provides ISM families, teachers, and pastoral staff with a detailed clinical understanding of how a student learns, processes information, regulates attention, manages academic demands, and functions within a trilingual Cambridge-pathway environment.
The assessment examines:
- Cognitive abilities, reasoning, and problem-solving
- Working memory, processing speed, and learning efficiency
- Reading, spelling, written expression, and mathematics attainment
- Attention regulation, concentration, and impulsivity
- Executive functioning skills including organisation, planning, task initiation, and self-monitoring
- Emotional wellbeing, school anxiety, and academic stress
- Behavioural and social functioning
- Learning differences including dyslexia, ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, autism spectrum profiles, and processing difficulties
A Global Education Testing (Madrid) comprehensive assessment supports families and the ISM pastoral team in identifying special educational needs, planning classroom and executive functioning interventions, structuring emotional wellbeing support, and applying for examination access arrangements.
The diagnostic findings, where clinically appropriate, support:
- Extra time in examinations (commonly 25 per cent, with 50 or 100 per cent available where the diagnostic profile supports it)
- Supervised rest breaks
- A separate or smaller examination room with reduced distraction
- Use of a laptop or word processor
- Reader, scribe, speech-to-text, and text-to-speech support
- Modified paper formats and assistive technology
- A prompter for students with attention difficulties
- Permission to take medication during examinations
- Organisational, executive functioning, and differentiated classroom strategies
About the International School of Madrid
ISM was founded in 1971 and remains family-owned, unusual in a market increasingly dominated by international education groups. The campus sits on Calle Serrano Galvache in Chamartín, in central Madrid rather than the suburban locations most British schools occupy.
The school serves around 350 students aged two to 18, with approximately 70 per cent Spanish students and 30 per cent international from more than 40 nationalities. Annual tuition ranges from EUR 7,630 to EUR 16,030, with a 20 per cent reduction for the third and any subsequent child in the same family.
Headmaster Tom Davidson joined in 2024 after seven years as Head of Secondary at Lady Elizabeth School in Valencia.
ISM follows the English National Curriculum throughout, with Cambridge IGCSE in Year 11 and Cambridge International AS and A Levels in Sixth Form. The Sixth Form combines Advanced level British subjects with Spanish Advanced level subjects in the same two-year programme, allowing direct entry to British, American, and Spanish universities. French is taught from Year 5, with preparation for Alliance Française CAF tests.
ISM students sit Cambridge IGCSE at the end of Year 11 and Cambridge International AS and A Levels in Sixth Form.
Cambridge International administers access arrangements through its own framework, which differs from JCQ. Cambridge requires standardised psychometric evidence demonstrating the candidate falls in the below-average range, defined as a standard score of 84 or below, a percentile rank of 15 or below, or a scaled score of 6 or below. Low-average scores are not accepted as evidence.
The Global Education Testing report is structured to meet these Cambridge thresholds with the named subtests, standard scores, and percentile ranks the Cambridge framework specifically requires.
The same report supports College Board access arrangements for the SAT, PSAT, ACT, and AP for US university applications, UCAS applications and UK university learning support services, admissions test accommodations for the MAT, STEP, TMUA, PAT, TSA, BMAT, UCAT, LNAT, and ELAT, and Spanish university entrance through EvAU for those pursuing Spanish destinations.