What's in an OT Assessment Report and How to Use It
What's in an OT Assessment Report and How to Use It
If your child has just had an occupational therapy assessment, you'll receive a report. It might look intimidating at first, full of technical terms, standardised scores, and recommendations. But this document is actu…
For familiesPublished 28 April 202612 min read· Written by the Sensphere OT team
If your child has just had an occupational therapy assessment, you'll receive a report. It might look intimidating at first, full of technical terms, standardised scores, and recommendations. But this document is actually a practical tool designed to help you understand your child's needs and plan next steps. This guide walks you through what you're looking at, what it means, and what to do with it.
What a Paediatric OT Report Typically Contains
Cover Page and Professional Details
The first page sets out who has written the report and their credentials. Look for three key things: the occupational therapist's name, their Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration number, and their Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) membership details.^1 These details matter, especially if you're planning to use the report as evidence for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Local authorities will not accept unsigned reports or reports without an HCPC registration number, so check these are present and clearly visible.^2
The report should also state the date it was written and the reason for the assessment. This gives context: was the assessment commissioned to explore fine motor difficulties, sensory needs, self-care skills, or something else? A good report will state clearly what the assessment set out to investigate.
Reason for Referral
This section explains why the assessment was needed. It might say something like "referred by the school SENCO to explore difficulties with handwriting and pencil grip" or "to assess sensory processing and impact on concentration at school." Understanding the referral question helps you know what the rest of the report is answering.
Background Information
Here, the occupational therapist summarises your child's developmental history, previous assessments, school information, and family context. It might include milestones like when your child first sat up, walked, and talked; any medical history; what you've noticed at home; and what the school has reported. This section builds a picture of your child's journey so far. Check it for accuracy, if something is missing or incorrect, it's worth flagging this before you use the report elsewhere.
Assessment Methods
This section lists the tools the occupational therapist used and when they were used. Common standardised assessments in paediatric OT include tests of fine motor skills, balance and coordination, sensory processing, and self-care abilities. The report should state whether the assessment happened in the clinic, your home, school, or a combination of settings. This matters because children's performance can vary significantly depending on where they are assessed and who they're with.
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A high-quality report leads with strengths before discussing areas of difficulty.^3 This isn't just about being positive, it's clinically important. Understanding what your child does well, and how they learn best, is essential for building a realistic and supportive plan. A strengths-based approach also helps you and the school see the full picture. For example, a child might struggle with pencil grip but have excellent visual tracking and creative ideas; knowing both matters when planning how to support their writing.
Findings, Areas of Difficulty
This section explains what the assessment found, written in plain English rather than jargon. Instead of "reduced motor planning," a good report will say "your child finds it hard to plan and sequence movements, which affects their ability to follow multi-step instructions like 'put on your shoes and socks.'" The clearer the explanation, the better you'll understand what's happening and why it matters.
Functional Impact
This explains how your child's difficulties affect their day-to-day life. Does poor fine motor control mean they can't hold a pencil long enough to write? Does sensory sensitivity mean they avoid certain textures or become distressed in busy environments? Does poor balance affect their confidence on the playground? This section makes the link between what the assessment found and what you actually see at home and school. It's often the most useful section for explaining to others why your child needs support.
Standardised Scores
Most OT assessments include standardised scores. These can look confusing, but they're simply a way of comparing your child's performance to other children their age. A score might be expressed as a percentile, for example, "below the 5th percentile" means your child's performance is below that of 95% of their age peers. This is significant and usually indicates a need for support.^4 Alternatively, the report might use a standard score (with a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15), a score of 85 or below typically suggests intervention is warranted. A good report will explain what the scores mean in plain language, not leave you guessing.
Recommendations
This is the action section. It should include home strategies (what you can do), school strategies (what the school can do), and whether further referrals are needed, perhaps to an educational psychologist (EP), speech and language therapist (SALT), paediatrician, or for therapy itself. Specific, measurable recommendations are far more useful than vague suggestions. "Provide sensory breaks of 5 to 10 minutes every 45 minutes, such as a 10-minute walk or a session of pushing and pulling activities" is actionable. "Consider sensory support" is not.
Summary and Next Steps
A brief recap of the main findings and what should happen next. There should be clarity about whether the occupational therapist will be providing therapy, whether they're recommending referral elsewhere, or whether the focus is on supporting your child through adjustments at home and school.
Signature, HCPC Registration Number, and Date
All three must be present and clearly visible. Without these, the report is not acceptable as evidence for EHCP purposes.^2
Does this sound familiar? Many of the families we work with describe exactly this situation. If you'd like to talk it through, book a free 15-minute call, no pressure, just a conversation.
What Makes a Good Report vs a Poor One
A strong OT report has several characteristics. It grounds all recommendations in assessment findings, you should be able to trace why a particular strategy is recommended. It uses specific, quantifiable language rather than vague suggestions. It is written in plain English that a parent can understand without jargon. It leads with strengths and presents a balanced picture. It includes standardised assessment data alongside clinical observation. And it is properly signed and dated with HCPC registration clearly visible.
Red flags that suggest a report may be weak include: missing signature, date, or HCPC number; entirely subjective observations with no reference to standardised tools or age norms; purely deficit-focused framing with no mention of strengths; vague recommendations that could apply to almost any child; no clear link between findings and recommendations; or language so technical that a parent cannot understand it.
If you have concerns about the quality of a report you've received, it's worth discussing this with the occupational therapist. A good OT will be happy to clarify, add detail, or revise sections if they're unclear.
Sharing the Report with School
Once you have the report, your school needs to see it. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) is your first point of contact. Share the report with them and ask for a review meeting to discuss how the school will adjust provision in light of the findings.
A good school will use the report to update their Special Educational Needs (SEN) support plan, implement the recommended strategies, and monitor whether they're working. This might mean arranging sensory breaks, adjusting seating or desk height, providing specific fine motor activities, or modifying how instructions are given.
If the school doesn't act on the recommendations, you have escalation options. Request a formal review meeting with the SENCO and other relevant staff to discuss why recommendations haven't been implemented. If you're still not satisfied, you can raise the matter with the school's SEND governor or lodge a formal complaint through the school's complaints procedure.
Schools can share your child's assessment report internally with staff who need to know, without seeking your permission, if it is relevant to your child's welfare and support.^5 However, sharing the report externally, to another school, an external agency, or a local authority, requires your written consent. Always be clear about who has access to your child's information.
Using the Report for EHCP
If you're working towards an Education, Health and Care Plan, an OT assessment report is valuable evidence. Submit it proactively with your request for an EHC needs assessment, before the local authority makes its decision about whether to conduct an assessment.^6
Different sections of the report map to different parts of an EHCP. The background information and findings sections (particularly areas of difficulty and functional impact) provide evidence for Section B (the child's educational needs) and Section C (health needs). The school-based recommendations map to Section F (provision to be made at school), and any health-related recommendations map to Section H (health provision).
When you submit the report, highlight the specific provision statements you want the local authority to consider including in the EHCP. For example, if the report recommends "frequent movement breaks in a quieter space to support self-regulation," you might ask for this to be included as a specific provision in Section F.
It's not uncommon for a local authority to commission their own OT assessment in addition to one you've already had done privately. You can ask the local authority to consider both reports, and you can submit your private report as additional evidence even if they do their own assessment.
Thinking about an assessment? Sensphere offers private paediatric OT assessments from £450, with no GP referral needed. Payment is via Stripe (card payment). Book a free call or view our full pricing.
Sharing with Other Professionals
An OT report is useful not just for school but for coordinated care across professionals. If your child is seeing a paediatrician or has a referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), sharing the OT report can inform their understanding of your child's presentation and support a more complete diagnostic picture.
If an educational psychologist is also involved, proactively share both reports. OT and EP assessments complement each other, motor and sensory difficulties often co-occur with learning differences, and together they build a stronger case for EHCP if that's what you're seeking.
Similarly, if your child has speech or language needs, the speech and language therapist will find it useful to see the OT report, as coordination and motor planning difficulties can affect communication.
If you're considering a private school placement, alternative provision, or homeschooling, the OT report helps you understand what support your child will need in that setting.
How Long Does the Report Remain Valid?
There is no universal expiry date for an OT assessment report. However, local authorities often question the relevance of reports older than 18 to 24 months, particularly when significant developmental change is expected or has occurred.^4 A report written when your child was five may look quite different when they're seven.
You should commission an updated assessment if: your child has made significant developmental progress or regressed; they're moving to a new school or setting; you're having an EHCP annual review and want current evidence about their needs; or you're preparing for tribunal and want the most recent assessment data possible. For tribunal purposes, reports should ideally be dated within 12 months of the hearing to carry maximum weight.
Moving Forward
An OT assessment report is a tool, not a label. It's designed to help you, the school, and other professionals understand your child's needs and plan effective support. A good report is clear, practical, and written with you in mind. It should answer the questions you had at the outset and give you concrete ideas about what to do next.
If you're unsure about anything in the report, ask the occupational therapist to explain. If the recommendations aren't being implemented at school, follow up. If you're using the report as evidence for EHCP, submit it proactively and be specific about what provision you're asking for. And remember: the goal isn't just to identify difficulties, but to build a clear, realistic picture of your child's strengths and needs so that everyone supporting them can work together effectively.
References
1.Health and Care Professions Council (2012). Standards for Record Keeping. HCPC.
2.Health and Care Professions Council (2016). Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. HCPC.
3.Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2019). Professional Standards for Occupational Therapy Practice, Conduct and Ethics. RCOT.
4.Law, M., Baptiste, S., Carswell, A., McColl, M.A., Polatajko, H., & Pollock, N. (2014). Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (5th ed.). CAOT Publications.
5.Children and Families Act 2014, Sections 36–44. HM Government.
6.SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (2015). Department for Education and Department of Health. [Paragraphs 9.51, 9.78 on evidence submission.]
7.IPSEA (2023). How to Use Independent Evidence in an EHC Needs Assessment. IPSEA.
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