Open six private ADHD clinic websites and you will get six different prices, six different descriptions of the same process, and very little you can actually compare.
Here is what is worth comparing, in the order it matters. Price comes last, and there is a reason for that.
Who Carries Out the Assessment?
This is the first question and the one that tells you most. Ask who you will actually see, what their professional registration is, and whether you can check that registration yourself.
Adult ADHD assessment is carried out by psychiatrists, and also by clinical psychologists and specialist nurses working within an appropriate scope. All are legitimate. What matters is that the clinic will name them and that the registration is current and verifiable.
How Long Is the Appointment?
A thorough adult ADHD assessment generally takes somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half, sometimes longer where the picture is complicated.
Be cautious about anything substantially shorter. A diagnosis rests on symptoms now, evidence of childhood onset, difficulties across more than one setting, and ruling out other explanations. That is a lot to establish in twenty minutes.
What Does the Fee Include?
- The assessment appointment itself
- A written diagnostic report
- A letter to your GP
- The first prescription, where medication is appropriate
Check each of these individually rather than assuming. A low headline fee with the report charged separately can easily cost more than a higher all-inclusive one.
What Happens After Diagnosis?
This is the question people most often forget, and the one with the biggest financial consequences. Diagnosis is a single payment; what follows it recurs.
If you take medication you will need titration appointments, typically monthly for three to six months while your dose is found. Ask what those cost before you book the assessment, not afterwards.
Will They Support Shared Care?
Once your dose is stable, prescribing can often move to your GP under a shared care agreement, which is considerably cheaper for you.
Ask whether the clinic actively supports that process, and what they charge for it. Ask too what happens if your GP declines, because some do. A clinic that has a clear answer has done this before.
What If You Are Not Diagnosed?
Ask directly, and listen carefully. The honest answer is that you still receive the assessment and the report, and the fee still applies, because you are paying for the clinician's time and opinion.
Any clinic that implies a diagnosis is guaranteed is telling you something important about how it operates. Nobody can promise an outcome before assessing you.
Warning Signs Worth Taking Seriously
- No named clinician, or a registration you cannot verify
- Very short appointments
- Diagnosis implied or guaranteed in the marketing
- No clear answer on titration costs
- Pressure to book today, or a discount that expires
- Reviews that cannot be traced to a real review platform
Where Does Price Fit?
Last, and it is deliberately last. UK adult ADHD assessments broadly range from around £500 to £1,200, and the price tells you very little about quality on its own.
What tells you something is what sits inside the fee, who delivers it, and what the first year costs rather than the first appointment. Compare those and the price differences usually explain themselves.
Should You Consider the NHS First?
Possibly, and we will say so plainly. If you can wait, the NHS route costs nothing, and Right to Choose may let you pick a provider and still be funded.
Waits are long in most areas, which is why private assessment exists. But going private because you did not know the alternatives existed is not a good reason, and we would rather you knew.
Want to talk it through first? You do not have to book anything to ask a question. Our team will tell you what is involved, what it costs and how soon you could be seen.
See the detail on our ADHD assessment page, or get in touch and we will answer honestly - including if we think the NHS route suits you better.
Conclusion
Choose on who assesses you, how long they spend, what the fee includes and what the year after diagnosis costs. Those four answers separate clinics far more reliably than the headline price does.
If you ask us those questions we will answer them directly, and if another route suits you better we will tell you that too.
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