‘Whole child’ intelligence and development assessment tool developed with Oxford Brookes experts

Academics from Oxford Brookes University have developed the UK version of a ‘whole child’ intelligence and development assessment tool.

The tool helps education and healthcare professionals to pinpoint areas where children need support and make informed decisions about interventions.

The Intelligence and Development Scales - 2nd Edition (IDS-2) is published by Hogrefe Publishing Group and is a modular assessment for children and adolescents aged five to 20 years, used to evaluate specific areas to make up a comprehensive picture of intelligence, executive function, and general development.

With many young people requiring extra developmental support – both in and outside the context of the pandemic – it is crucial that professionals are able to perform a complete assessment.

Anna Barnett, Professor of Psychology at Oxford Brookes University said: “Our team has worked together with an excellent group of test administrators to gather data for this large project. We are grateful to all the families, schools, colleges and community groups who made this possible and all the children and adolescents who took part in the project. Their involvement has made it possible to deliver this exciting new assessment tool to help education and health professionals identify and support those who need help.”

The UK adaptation of the IDS-2 was based on data from 1,367 children and young people across the nations. Authors Professor Anna Barnett, Dr Nichola Stuart and Dr Serena Vanzan worked carefully training test administrators to gather data from children and adolescents across the regions and socio-economic groups of the UK.