The question usually arrives at a particular moment. You have been waiting eleven months, the local service cannot give you a date, your child is struggling at school, and a private clinic is offering an appointment in three weeks.
It is a reasonable thing to consider. It is also a decision worth making with clear information about what private provision does and does not buy you, because some of what families expect does not follow automatically.
First, The Free Route Most People Miss
Before paying anything, ask your GP about Right to Choose.
In England, once your GP agrees an assessment is clinically appropriate, you can ask to be referred to any provider holding an NHS contract rather than only the local service. The assessment is NHS funded, meaning free to you, and waiting times with some providers are considerably shorter than local lists.
You cannot self-refer, so the referral must come from your GP. It applies in England only, and you must be registered with a GP there.
A significant number of families pay for private assessment without ever having been told this exists. Ask the question before you spend.
What Paying Privately Does Buy
Speed, which is the main reason families choose it. Weeks rather than many months.
Choice of practitioner, letting you select someone with specific experience of your child's profile rather than whoever is allocated.
Appointment length, which is often longer than overstretched NHS services can offer.
Scheduling, including evenings, weekends and online appointments around school.
What It Does Not Automatically Buy
This is the part families most often misunderstand, and it is worth being plain.
An EHCP does not follow from a diagnosis. Education, Health and Care Plans are assessed on need rather than diagnosis, through the local authority, with evidence from school. A private report supports an application. It does not produce one.
Local authorities may scrutinise private reports more closely. Most accept them. Some apply more rigour to independent assessments, particularly where the assessor is not local. Check what yours expects before commissioning.
Shared care is not guaranteed. This matters more for ADHD than autism, since autism itself has no medication. Where medication does arise, GPs are not obliged to enter shared care arrangements following a private diagnosis, and some decline. Ask your GP's position before assuming ongoing prescribing will transfer to the NHS.
Ongoing support may not be included. Many private services assess and diagnose without providing anything afterwards. Ask explicitly what happens the day after the report arrives.
Judging a Private Service
Apply these before booking.
Who conducts it, and are they registered? Autism assessment should involve appropriately qualified professionals, typically a paediatrician, psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. Check the GMC or HCPC register directly by name. It takes minutes.
Is it multidisciplinary? Robust assessment usually draws on more than one professional perspective and on information from school.
Do they gather information from school? An assessment based solely on a clinic appointment and a parent report is thinner than one including the educational setting.
What is the total cost? Including the report, any follow-up, and anything that happens afterwards.
What do they provide post-diagnosis? If the answer is nothing, factor that in.
Will they write to our GP? This should be standard.
When Private Is Clearly Worth It
Where the wait is causing active harm, such as school refusal escalating or mental health deteriorating. Where a diagnosis is needed for a decision with a deadline, such as a school placement. Where you have the means and the wait is simply unacceptable to you, which is a legitimate reason requiring no further justification.
When It Is Worth Pausing
Where Right to Choose has not yet been explored. Where the main difficulties are sleep, digestion, behaviour or sensory load, all of which can be addressed now without any diagnosis. Where the cost would create real financial strain for a report that may not change what support is available.
That middle point deserves emphasis. Families sometimes spend substantially on a diagnosis expecting it to unlock help, then discover the practical changes available to them were ones they could have started a year earlier.
What You Can Do Regardless
None of the following requires a diagnosis, private or otherwise:
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Establishing sleep timing and treating constipation
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Requesting SEN support and reasonable adjustments at school
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Beginning speech and language therapy for communication difficulty
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Reducing sensory load at home
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Applying for Disability Living Allowance, which is based on care needs
Our own consultations sit in this category. We assess and support the physical difficulties affecting daily life, and we do not diagnose autism, which we say to every family at the outset.
Ask the Free Question First
Before you spend anything, book a GP appointment and ask one sentence: can we be referred under Right to Choose, and which providers are available?
If the answer is a wait you can live with, you have saved a significant sum. If it is not, you will at least be choosing privately with the full picture rather than out of desperation. Either way, the physical difficulties can be worked on from this week, and you can start that conversation here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the NHS accept a private autism diagnosis?
Usually, though practice varies and some local authorities scrutinise independent reports more closely. Check locally before commissioning.
Does a private diagnosis get my child an EHCP?
No. EHCPs are assessed on need through the local authority. A report supports an application rather than producing one.
Can I go private and stay on the NHS waiting list?
Policies differ, and some services close a referral once you are assessed elsewhere. Ask before proceeding if you want to keep the place.
What should a private assessment include?
Appropriately qualified assessors, developmental history, direct assessment, information from school, and a written report with reasoning.
Is a faster diagnosis always better?
Faster is better when the wait is causing harm. A rushed assessment by a single assessor with no school input is not better than a thorough one.
What if we cannot afford private assessment?
Ask about Right to Choose, request SEN support at school now, and begin the practical changes above, none of which require a diagnosis.