Dyslexia, ADHD and Autism Assessment Pathways for St George Madrid School Students
St George Madrid is one of the few British international schools in Madrid that channels every Sixth Form student into a single examination pathway. Where Thames British School offers parallel A Level and IB Diploma routes, and most American international schools combine the US High School Diploma with the option of IB, St George operates an unambiguous pipeline: Cambridge IGCSE at Year 11, then the IB Diploma Programme in Sixth Form.
Every student who progresses to Year 12 at St George commits to the IB. This singular pathway shapes the documentation strategy for any family considering a psychoeducational assessment for their child.
The St George Pipeline and What It Means for Documentation
Founded in 2010 and located on Calle de la Salvia in Alcobendas, on the border with La Moraleja in north Madrid, St George Madrid is part of the St George network of five British international schools across Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Sevilla, and Almeria). The school occupies a 2.5 hectare campus, serves around 750 students from more than 40 nationalities, and operates as a Cambridge International authorised examination centre. Roughly 65 per cent of students are Spanish, with the remaining 35 per cent drawn from international families. The school is accredited by NABSS and certified by the British Council.
The academic pipeline is the English National Curriculum from Early Years through to Year 11, with Cambridge IGCSE examinations at the end of Year 11, then the IB Diploma Programme as the sole Sixth Form pathway leading to Year 13. The school sat its first IB Diploma cohort in 2021.
For families considering an independent psychoeducational assessment, the implication of this pipeline is significant. The documentation must satisfy two different examining bodies in sequence. Cambridge International for IGCSE access arrangements at Year 11. The International Baccalaureate for IB Diploma access arrangements at Year 13. Each system has its own evidence requirements, its own documentation format expectations, and its own deadlines.
A report that satisfies one but not the other forces the family into a second assessment two years later. A report structured to satisfy both, anchored in DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 diagnostic criteria, supports the full St George pathway from Year 11 through to Year 13 within a single document.
The St George pipeline is unusually clean. Cambridge IGCSE at Year 11, IB Diploma at Year 13, and a single examination administration framework at each stage. A psychoeducational assessment commissioned at any point in a child’s St George journey produces a 20 to 30 page diagnostic report that satisfies both examination bodies, supports the SENCO’s classroom planning, travels with the student across the St George network in Spain, and follows the student onward into university and adult life. Global Education Testing Madrid delivers these assessments through HCPC-registered educational psychologists, with reports anchored in DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 diagnostic criteria, scheduled within three weeks of initial contact
Five Questions St George Families Ask Before Booking an Assessment
Which language should the testing be in? The St George curriculum is delivered in English from Early Years through Year 13. Cognitive and academic assessments administered in English produce results that map directly onto the classroom and the examination hall. An assessment in Spanish, even by a fluent bilingual examiner, conflates language acquisition with cognitive ability and produces results the examination boards do not recognise.
Global Education Testing Madrid conducts all testing in English, the language of instruction at St George, using the full clinical battery normed for English-speaking populations. Where parents prefer to discuss results in their own language, real-time translation is available for consultation and feedback meetings in virtually any language.
Will a local Spanish report work? No. A Spanish-language report from a local psychologist or neuropediatra will not satisfy Cambridge International, the IB, or the College Board, regardless of clinical quality. The format, the named subtests, the diagnostic frameworks (DSM-5-TR and ICD-11), the scoring conventions, and the qualifications of the assessor are international standards.
A Spanish report sits outside the system the international examining bodies recognise. For St George families, where the entire forward pathway runs through Cambridge International and the IB, this distinction is determinative.
Is a single-condition screen enough? No. Dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADHD, and autism co-occur frequently. A child with ADHD often shows literacy difficulties that look like dyslexia until the attentional profile is properly assessed. A child with high-functioning autism may show executive function difficulties that are misread as ADHD.
A single-condition screen identifies whether the named condition is present and stops there. The Global Education Testing battery covers cognitive ability through WISC-V or WAIS-V, academic achievement through WIAT-III, phonological processing through CTOPP, handwriting through DASH, executive function through Conners and SNAP, visual-spatial processing through the Taylor Complex Figure Test, and emotional and behavioural factors through Rotter and clinical observation. The integrated picture is what produces a true diagnosis.
What examination boards does the report need to cover? For St George students, the report needs to satisfy Cambridge International for IGCSE at Year 11 and the IB for the IB Diploma at Year 13. For students considering US university applications alongside their IB Diploma, the report also needs to satisfy the College Board for SAT and AP access arrangements.
For students applying to Oxford, Cambridge, or other selective UK universities, the report needs to satisfy the relevant admissions test administrators including the MAT, STEP, TMUA, PAT, ENGAA, NSAA, TSA, BMAT, ELAT, and HAT. The same Global Education Testing report covers every one of these systems within a single document.
When should this happen in my child’s school journey? The Cambridge International expectation is that supporting evidence is dated within approximately two years of the examination series. An assessment in Year 9 or Year 10 sits within this window for Year 11 IGCSEs and remains current enough to support the Sixth Form decision.
For families further along the pipeline, a Year 11 or early Year 12 assessment covers the IB Diploma examinations at the end of Year 13. For younger children where a learning difference is suspected but not yet diagnostic, a baseline assessment can identify emerging patterns and inform classroom planning long before examinations become the urgent question.
The EAL Question at St George
St George Madrid operates an unusual EAL provision compared to other British international schools in Madrid. Where most peer schools use in-class differentiation as their primary EAL approach, St George operates an intensive withdrawal model. Students assessed on entry as unable to access the mainstream curriculum are withdrawn from regular classes for between one and four hours per day for EAL lessons until they can access the curriculum.
This is a substantial intervention, and it allows St George to accept students with a wide range of English language proficiency, including students who arrive at the school with very limited English.
For St George families this creates a specific clinical question. When a child is struggling academically in the early years at the school, the explanation could be the natural lag of English language acquisition, a genuine specific learning difference, or both operating together. The EAL programme is structured around language acquisition. It is not structured around the differential diagnosis of dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, or autism in a multilingual learner.
An independent psychoeducational assessment in the child’s strongest language is the clinical tool that answers this question. The cognitive battery measures reasoning ability in ways that minimise language load. The phonological processing battery distinguishes phonological awareness from English vocabulary.
The academic assessment compares attainment against standardised English-language peers while interpreting findings against the developmental context of multilingual acquisition. Global Education Testing’s educational psychologists work routinely with multilingual children in international schools and differentiate clinically between language acquisition and underlying learning difference.
Our Comprehensive Psychoeducational Assessments Explained
Each assessment battery is tailored to the specific student based on the information gathered during the pre-assessment consultation. The cognitive assessment uses the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fifth Edition or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Fifth Edition. The academic assessment uses the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test Third Edition. Phonological processing is assessed through CTOPP where dyslexia is suspected. Handwriting fluency and motor output through DASH where dysgraphia is suspected. Attention and executive function through Conners and SNAP rating scales. Visual-spatial processing and planning through the Taylor Complex Figure Test. Emotional and behavioural factors through Rotter and clinical observation.
The full assessment is delivered via secure video link, typically scheduled within two weeks of initial contact. Students aged 12 and above complete the testing in a single four-hour session. Students under 12 complete it across two consecutive days of approximately two hours each, maintaining focus and preventing fatigue. The 20 to 30 page diagnostic report is delivered within three weeks of the final testing session. The comprehensive assessment, including pre-assessment consultation, full testing battery, the diagnostic report, and the feedback consultation, costs EUR 2,650.
The St George Network and Portability
Families who join St George Madrid sometimes move to other St George schools within Spain, or to British international schools elsewhere in Europe and beyond. An independent psychoeducational assessment is structured to travel.
The same Global Education Testing report supports access arrangements at any Cambridge International school, any IB World School, and at College Board examinations administered anywhere in the world. It supports UK and international university disability service applications. It supports the postgraduate examinations many St George graduates eventually face, including the MCAT, LSAT, GMAT, GRE, GAMSAT, and the various Oxbridge admissions tests. The report does not need to be redone every time the family moves.