Free · takes about 5 minutes
Free Child Dyslexia Indicator
A short, free set of questions to help you think about the patterns you have noticed in your child's reading, spelling, written work and learning.
An indicator, not a diagnosis. This is an indicator, not a diagnostic test. It cannot diagnose dyslexia, and difficulties can have other explanations. A full diagnostic assessment considers a much wider range of information and standardised evidence.
Before you start
- 23 short questions, answered by you rather than by your child, about five minutes.
- Completely free. No email address, account or phone number required.
- Your answers stay in your browser. Nothing is sent to us or stored.
- You can go back, change an answer, or start again at any point.
- At the end you get a profile across several areas, with guidance, not a score or a diagnosis.
About this indicator
What this free check can and cannot tell you
If you have found yourself wondering whether your child's difficulties might be dyslexia, this is a calm place to start. The questions ask about things you can actually see at home: how reading goes, how spelling behaves, how long written work takes, and how instructions land.
Dyslexia presents differently from one child to the next, and the same difficulties can have several other explanations. A full diagnostic assessment considers a much wider range of information, standardised assessment of underlying skills, educational history, and the support already tried, which is why no set of questions like this can give you a diagnosis.
What it can do is help you notice a pattern, understand what that pattern might mean, and see what a sensible next step could look like. Nothing is sold to you at the end, and no email address is required.
Your privacy. Your answers stay in your browser. They are not sent to Defining Dyslexia, not saved to any database, and not used for marketing. We do not ask for your child's name, school, date of birth or any other identifying information, and please do not include any in a message to us either.
Common questions
- Can this tell me whether my child has dyslexia?
- No. It is an indicator, not a diagnostic test. It summarises the patterns you report, which is a useful starting point, but a diagnosis of dyslexia can only follow a full diagnostic assessment carried out by a qualified specialist assessor using standardised measures.
- Is it really free, and do I need to give an email address?
- It is completely free, and no email address, account or phone number is required. Your result appears on screen as soon as you finish, and you can print or save it if you want to keep a copy.
- What happens to my answers?
- They stay in your browser and are used only to work out your profile on your own device. They are not sent to Defining Dyslexia and not stored in any database. We do not ask for your child's name, school or date of birth.
- My child is under 7. Should I still use it?
- You are welcome to, and the profile may help you decide what to raise with school. Bear in mind that children develop at very different rates before 7, and many early patterns settle with good teaching. Defining Dyslexia's diagnostic assessment service begins from age 8.
- What if the profile shows very few indicators but I am still worried?
- Trust your concern. This indicator only asks about a limited number of things and cannot see how your child works in a classroom. If something still feels wrong, raise it with the class teacher or SENCo, and get in touch if you would like to talk it through.
- Could these difficulties be something other than dyslexia?
- Yes. Similar patterns can arise for a range of reasons, including other specific learning differences, gaps in teaching, language differences, or simply a difficult period at school. This indicator looks only at patterns associated with dyslexia and does not attempt to screen for anything else. A full assessment is designed to distinguish between those possibilities.