Managing ADHD in UK Schools

Learn practical classroom strategies for managing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for implementation in schools in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

ADHD and ADHD symptoms are becoming more common among young people and the negative behaviours as a direct effect are being observed in classrooms all over the UK

Children with ADHD typically experience difficulties with focus, organisation, and impulse control, which can significantly affect their ability to engage with learning in a traditional classroom setting.

These challenges often lead to behaviour that is misunderstood or labelled as disruptive, when in fact it stems from unmet needs associated with their condition. As a result, many children with ADHD require tailored support as part of their special educational needs provision to ensure they can thrive in school.

Recognising and Supporting ADHD in UK Schools

In the UK, children and young people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are recognised as having potential special educational needs (SEN) if their condition significantly impacts their learning or ability to access education. Schools are required by law to identify and support pupils with SEN, including ADHD, to ensure they receive a fair and inclusive education.

Support for children with ADHD is typically overseen by the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) within the school. The SENCO plays a vital role in coordinating support plans, liaising with parents and external professionals, and ensuring that teachers are equipped with practical classroom strategies tailored to each child’s needs.

Children and young people with ADHD may benefit from:

• SEN Support in mainstream classrooms, which can include adapted teaching strategies, additional supervision, visual aids, and structured routines.

• Educational, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in England, or equivalent coordinated plans in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, for those with more complex needs.

• Access to specialist services such as Educational Psychologists, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), and ADHD nurses or consultants.

• Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to reduce disadvantage in the learning environment.

This structured approach helps schools provide consistent, person-centred support to children with ADHD and ensures they are included and valued as part of the wider school community.

Examples of Negative Behaviours Caused by ADHD in the Classroom

A young person with ADHD often display behaviours in the classroom that can be challenging for teachers, parents, and their peers to manage. These behaviours are not deliberate acts of defiance but are typically the result of underlying difficulties with attention, impulse control, and emotional regulation.

Common examples include:

• Interrupting conversations or calling out in class

• Constantly fidgeting, moving around, or leaving their seat

• Difficulty waiting their turn or following instructions

• Emotional outbursts or frustration when routines change

• Forgetting homework, losing belongings, or being disorganised

While these behaviours are a direct result of the child's condition, the consequences can be far-reaching. A child who repeatedly disrupts lessons may struggle to maintain friendships and can be viewed as a "troublemaker" by staff or classmates. This can lead to low self-esteem, especially when the child becomes aware of the negative reactions their behaviour causes.

Over time, the impact extends beyond the classroom. Parents may receive regular complaints from school, leading to stress and feelings of helplessness. Tensions can rise at home, affecting family life and relationships. Teachers may feel frustrated or overwhelmed, particularly if they lack the training or resources to respond effectively to the child’s behaviour.

Without appropriate understanding and support, children and young people with ADHD risk being misunderstood, excluded, or unfairly disciplined—despite having a recognised condition that affects their ability to self-regulate.

Addressing Behaviours Of Concern With an ADHD Assessment

Here at Behaviour Help we advocate the use of Positive Behaviour Support supported by Functional Behaviour Assessments. These ideas represent a structured approach to finding strategies to help support children with ADHD to manage their neurodivergent condition and experience success at school.

The approach has three key steps: Assess, Manage and Prevent. It's time for the parents and teachers to work together across settings to uncover the triggers, control the challenging behaviours and find ways to prevent them in the future.

To make this process easier and more collaborative, the Behaviour Help App offers structure and advice to education professionals (teachers, SENCO, teaching assistants and so on) to carry out assessments in partnership with parents and other adults.

Typically the desire to provide additional support to children with adhd at school is there but we can't offer support if we haven't figured out what strategies will work best for the young person we are trying to help.

Assess

The first and most vital step is to properly assess what is happening—when, where, and why. Understanding a child’s behaviour requires more than just observation; it requires structured data collection across school and home environments so that teachers, SENCOs, parents, and other professionals can build a clear picture together.

In the Assess stage of the Behaviour Help framework, the app enables schools to gather meaningful, real-time behaviour data. Education professionals can easily create and share tailored behaviour tracking forms—whether they are looking to log the frequency, duration, or intensity of a particular behaviour. These can be shared securely via a web link or QR code, so that data can be entered by all team members, including teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, or even parents observing patterns at home. This shared approach is especially powerful in understanding how a child’s behaviour presents across different settings and identifying common triggers.

As soon as data is submitted, the app automatically compiles it into clear, visual graphs and an easy-to-read clinical summary. These visuals allow school staff and families to spot trends and connections between certain environments, times of day, activities, or antecedents. For example, a child might consistently become dysregulated during transitions, noisy group tasks, or after lunchtime. Rather than relying on anecdotal evidence or memory, the Behaviour Help App provides a solid, evidence-based foundation for making decisions about what the child actually needs.

To guide a deeper level of interpretation, the app also includes PBS Chat—a structured tool for reflective analysis, prompting questions that help uncover the possible function or purpose of the behaviour. Is the child trying to escape a demand? Seek sensory input? Gain adult attention? These insights are critical when it comes to designing effective strategies for support.

All this data can be exported as summaries, making it easy to share findings at SEN reviews, parent-teacher meetings, multidisciplinary team discussions, or even for local authority audits or EHCP applications. By making assessment collaborative, consistent, and person-centred, the Behaviour Help App gives schools the tools they need to understand the child behind the behaviour—and take the first step toward meaningful change.

Manage Stage – Creating Supportive Strategies for Children with ADHD

Once a clear understanding of the child’s behaviour has been built through assessment, the next step is to manage those behaviours effectively in the school setting. For children with ADHD, this means developing tailored, proactive strategies that reduce disruption, increase engagement, and support emotional regulation—while also promoting a positive experience for the wider class.

The Behaviour Help App helps schools move confidently into this Manage stage by offering a structured approach to strategy planning. Teachers, SENCOs, parents, and other professionals can work together to develop and document practical interventions that reflect the data gathered in the Assess phase. These aren’t one-size-fits-all behaviour plans—they are individualised and focused on what will help this child succeed.

Using the app, you can design behaviour support plans that match the specific needs of children and young people with ADHD. This may include environmental adjustments (such as seating arrangements, visual timetables, or calm spaces), supportive communication strategies, clear routines, and consistent positive reinforcement. The app makes it easy to set out clear goals, identify who is responsible for each action, and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Importantly, the app encourages a positive and preventative approach to managing behaviour. Instead of focusing solely on consequences or sanctions, staff are guided to use strategies that help the child develop regulation skills, build self-esteem, and feel understood. For example, if the data shows that a child is frequently interrupting conversations during whole-class teaching, a management strategy might include the use of a fidget tool, frequent movement breaks, or a quiet reminder signal agreed between teacher and pupil.

The Behaviour Help App also tracks whether these strategies are working. Staff can log progress and update the plan in real time, adjusting approaches as needed. This ensures the behaviour plan remains a living, evolving document rather than a static form that gets forgotten in a file.

With this coordinated, data-driven approach, schools are better equipped to respond to the child’s behaviour without shame or punishment, reducing stress on both staff and pupils. And when teachers and parents are aligned on strategies, support becomes more consistent across school and home—offering the child a much greater chance of success.

Practical Strategies for Preventing Behaviours of Concern in Children with ADHD

Preventing behaviours of concern in children with ADHD starts with understanding their unique needs and the contexts in which they struggle. While there are many proven approaches that can help, not every strategy will work for every child. That’s why it’s important to treat the following strategies as general guidance—ideas to try, adapt, and refine based on individual needs.

The Behaviour Help App’s assessment process plays a key role in this. By identifying the triggers and patterns behind a child’s behaviour, teachers and parents can work together to select the most appropriate and effective techniques from this list, implementing them consistently across settings and on a regular basis.

Here are 10 practical strategies schools and families can use to support children with ADHD and reduce the likelihood of behaviours of concern:

1. Support Organisational Skills

Children with ADHD often struggle with organisation, forgetting tasks, losing equipment, or missing deadlines. Use colour-coded folders, visual prompts such as checklists, and routines to help them stay on track. A consistent structure helps reduce anxiety and supports independence.

2. Build in Extra Time

Give children extra time to process instructions and complete tasks. Time pressure can lead to frustration or avoidance behaviours. Offer reassurance and support to help them feel successful, rather than rushed.

3. Introduce Regular Mealtimes and Rest Breaks

Blood sugar dips can affect focus and mood. Encourage regular mealtimes and healthy snacks, and ensure children have predictable breaks throughout the day to move, reset, and self-regulate.

4. Use Background Music Strategically

For some pupils, quiet, non-distracting background music during independent work can help drown out distracting stimuli and improve concentration. Try instrumental or ambient tracks and observe the impact.

5. Agree Logical Consequences

Rather than harsh punishments, use logical consequences that help the child connect actions with outcomes. For example, if they damage school equipment, they help to fix or clean it. Discuss consequences in advance so they feel fair and understood.

6. Create a Calm and Predictable Environment

Minimise distractions and clutter, reduce visual distractions, and provide clear visual timetables. Predictability helps children feel safe and reduces impulsive reactions to sudden changes.

7. Offer Choices Within Structure

Children with ADHD benefit from autonomy within limits. Let them choose the order of tasks or where to sit, while keeping overall structure and expectations in place. Create opportunities for students to break tasks into smaller pieces.

8. Teach Emotional Regulation

Use language and modelling to teach emotional awareness. Help children identify their feelings, recognise early signs of distress, and practise calming strategies on a regular basis—not just in crisis moments.

9. Discuss Strategies Together

Collaborate with the child, family, and support staff. Discuss what works and what doesn’t, and involve the child in shaping their own behaviour plan. When children feel heard, they’re more likely to engage positively thanks to this type of peer support.

10. Reward Effort and Progress

Focus on growth, not perfection. Use praise, stickers, or short-term goals to reinforce positive behaviour and effort. This helps build self-esteem and encourages persistence, even when tasks are challenging.

Why ADHD Support Matters: Ofsted and Inclusion

Since the introduction of the 2019 Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF), schools in England have been held to higher standards when it comes to supporting the personal development, behaviour, and welfare of all pupils—including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Ofsted has made it clear that inclusion is no longer a side note—it is a core part of a school’s overall effectiveness. Schools are expected to create an environment where all children and young people, regardless of need, can flourish and succeed. This means providing tailored support for pupils with ADHD, ensuring their learning is not only accessible to most children but meaningful and inclusive for all.

Ofsted inspectors look for:

• High expectations for behaviour from all pupils, including those with SEND

• Evidence that the school has a clear, proactive approach to managing behaviour, rather than relying on exclusion or punishment

• A well-embedded behaviour policy that is applied fairly and consistently

• Support strategies that help pupils develop positive attitudes towards learning and manage their own behaviour over time

• Strong partnership with parents, carers, and external agencies

• A curriculum and support system that meets the needs of children with SEND, including those with ADHD

• Systems to ensure pupils with additional needs make good progress personally, socially, and academically

Schools that fail to support pupils with ADHD effectively may be criticised for inconsistent behaviour policies, poor pastoral care, or a lack of ambition for pupils with SEND. Conversely, those that demonstrate a thoughtful, evidence-based approach to ADHD support—like using behaviour assessments, personalised plans, and collaborative working with families—are far more likely to be praised for their inclusive culture.

The Behaviour Help App can support schools in this process, providing the structure, evidence, and planning tools necessary to document effective practice. From detailed functional behaviour assessments to tracked intervention plans and progress summaries, the app gives schools the confidence to demonstrate what’s working—and adapt quickly when it isn’t.

Where to Find Further ADHD Support in the UK

While schools play a vital role in supporting children with ADHD, families and professionals can also benefit from accessing official guidance and specialist services available across the UK. Early identification, formal diagnosis, and coordinated support are key to helping children and young people thrive.

If you suspect a child may have ADHD, the first step is often to book a GP appointment. A GP can refer the child to local ADHD services, usually via a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), for further assessment and diagnosis.

In schools, parents should speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) or designated SEND lead. The SENCO can help coordinate in-school support, apply for additional resources, and liaise with external professionals such as educational psychologists or ADHD nurses.

For official guidance and trusted resources, consider the following:

• NHS ADHD Overview
  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/

  Provides a detailed explanation of symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options through the UK’s public health service.

• SEND Code of Practice (Department for Education)
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

  Outlines schools’ responsibilities under the law to support children with special educational needs, including ADHD.

• ADHD UK – Information and Support
  https://www.adhduk.co.uk
  A UK charity offering a wide range of practical advice, downloadable resources, and support services for families and professionals.

These resources can help parents and schools discuss concerns early, advocate for the right support, and ensure that children with ADHD are given the understanding and opportunity they deserve.