How to help your child with ADHD when they’re struggling at school

An estimated one in 20 children in the UK has ADHD, so why do so many students go years without adequate support in school?

If your child with ADHD is struggling in school in the UK, you’re not alone. Thankfully, you’re not out of options either. In this guide, we’ll walk you through why school can be so hard for children with ADHD, what support they’re entitled to, and steps you can take to secure a change.

Why do children with ADHD struggle in school?

Children with ADHD often struggle in school because mainstream classrooms have historically been designed for neurotypical minds. Within a single school day, a student may need to stay focused through long lessons, manage workload and deadlines, navigate complex social dynamics, and transition between dozens of tasks. Of course, these are all areas where ADHD can directly impact your child.

Some of the most common and impactful difficulties include:

• Lack of attention in the classroom – This is the challenge that’s often most visible to teachers, but missed instructions and incomplete tasks aren’t a sign of laziness or low effort. For children with ADHD, attention can be genuinely difficult to regulate, while differences in processing may mean they’re still working through one piece of information when the lesson has already moved on.
• Organisation and time management – Managing deadlines, remembering homework, and bringing the right materials to class all rely on executive function, one of the key skills that ADHD interferes with. This can become even more difficult when children transition to secondary school, where they encounter more teachers with more expectations.
• Impulsivity and social interactions – Some children with ADHD may act before thinking, which can come across as disruption in the classroom. Others have difficulty reading social cues (such as knowing when it’s their turn to speak), affecting their relationships with classmates and teachers alike. Over time, it’s no surprise that this can erode self-esteem in lessons too.

Unfortunately, all of this difficulty can have a marked effect on a child’s academic progress. Even at primary school age, studies show that children with probable ADHD are more likely to have lower grades and attendance.

How to help your child with ADHD when they’re struggling at school

When your child is struggling at school, getting them the right support is rarely a single conversation or a single adjustment. As parents know well, supporting young people with ADHD is an ongoing process that needs to span the classroom, your home, and your child’s own wellbeing.

If you’re not sure where to begin or you’re struggling to secure the support your child needs, we’re here to break down all three areas.

Getting your child the right ADHD support in the classroom

While ADHD is not typically considered a “learning disability,” schools are still legally obligated to make reasonable adjustments for children with ADHD under the Equality Act 2010. These measures can make a major difference to how your child experiences the classroom day to day, as evidenced by a 2016 review which found that classroom interventions reduce how often children with ADHD symptoms go off-task in lessons.

Who’s responsible for your child’s ADHD support?

The most direct route to in-school support for a child with ADHD is often through the school’s SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator). They’re the specific, accountable person whose job it is to make sure your child is thriving in the classroom.

The SENCO’s role often includes:

• Working with you, teachers, and staff to understand the support your child needs
• Developing support plans that set out specific accommodations for your child
• Coordinating with external professionals if your child requires specialist input, such as an educational psychologist
• Making sure staff are trained in how to work with students who have ADHD
• Ongoing monitoring of your child’s support progress

Of course, SENCOs don’t work in isolation. Class teachers may have the best view of how your child’s ADHD affects them from day to day, while a pastoral lead may be monitoring your child’s wellbeing. For your child to get the best support, all these roles need to work together. When your child’s school is setting up their support, don’t be afraid to ask who is responsible for what; understanding each person’s role means you can ask the right questions and follow up with the right people when needed.

Which reasonable adjustments is your child entitled to?

Every child with ADHD is different, so every student will need different adjustments to really flourish, but many supports fall into one of two categories: environment-focused and teaching-focused.

• Environmental adjustments can include supports like a seat away from distractions (such as windows and high-traffic areas), access to quiet work areas when your child needs to focus, and consistent routines that help reduce their cognitive load.
• Teaching adjustments might involve regular redirection to refocus your child’s attention, modified assignments broken into manageable steps, visual aids or colour-coded learning materials, and additional time for tasks and tests.

If your child is approaching their GCSE or A Level exams, schools can also apply for formal access arrangements through the relevant awarding body (typically AQA, Pearson, OCR, or WJEC). Some of the most common exam adjustments for children with ADHD include extra time in exams (typically 25%) and sitting exams in a separate room to minimise distractions.

If you’re not sure which adjustments would be best for your child, or their school has implemented ideas that aren’t working, one of the most effective ways forward may be getting your child more involved. In a study on ADHD support in UK schools, University of Exeter senior lecturer Dr. Abigail Russell said, “Good examples were the exception rather than the norm, but it was surprising to hear from young people how — if education is tailored to what matters to them — they can thrive.”

How to work effectively with your child’s school

If you’ve already been through the initial steps of setting up your child’s support at school, you may be one of the many parents struggling to make headway. The key to building a more productive home-school partnership will depend on where you are in your journey.

When requesting a SENCO meeting, we advise coming prepared with specific examples, whether that’s the patterns you’ve noticed or how problems are showing up at home. This could be in the form of notes or a well-crafted letter or email. It can also help to provide a copy of your child’s ADHD diagnosis report. The clearer the picture, the more targeted support they can offer.

If you’ve gotten the ball rolling but things are moving too slowly, try to establish a communication plan. Find out who the main contact is, when you should expect updates, and what to do if things don’t improve. Regular, light-touch updates can be more effective than long, infrequent meetings.

And if you’ve already raised concerns and nothing has changed, remember you’re entitled to escalate the situation through the school’s standard channels. Often, your next port of call will be the headteacher, before moving on to the board of governors and then LEA (local education authority). Try to keep everything in writing through your dealings with the school, as this creates a paper trail that will help you take a complaint to the highest level.

Supporting your child with ADHD at home

Even when school is the place where your child is having the most difficulty, support at home can be powerful in helping them feel better in the classroom. Naturally, what you do at home as a parent can’t replace great classroom support, but it can control how your child’s day goes before and after school.

Not sure where to start? Here are our top tips to try.

1. Build a routine that works with your child’s ADHD

Many children with ADHD find it helpful when their mornings, after-school time, homework, and evenings follow the same structure each day. Creating a visual timetable or simple checklist will help make the structure visible, reducing the need for constant verbal reminders.

2. Keep directions to one brief step

When you need your child to do something they may not want to do, such as chores, get their attention first, then give them one clear instruction at a time. If your child is feeling dysregulated from a difficult day of school, long explanations can feel agitating and difficult to remember.

3. Try praising more than you correct

Sadly, children with ADHD often receive more criticism than their classmates at school, which can shape how they see themselves over time. Amanda Logan, Certified Nurse Practitioner in Family Medicine at Mayo Clinic, recommends praising good behaviour at least five times more often than you criticise unwanted behaviour. You don’t need to ignore problems, but actively reinforcing your child when they do something right can help boost their self-assurance.

4. Structure homework time

You may find that homework goes down more smoothly when you stick to a consistent location at a fixed starting time. Try short, focused work bursts with planned movement breaks in between; timers and “brain breaks” are also widely recommended. If homework is regularly taking far longer than it should, it’s also worth raising your child’s workload with their school.

5. Protect sleep, movement, and meals

Evidence shows that everyday improvements like quality sleep, regular nutrition, and daily exercise can all support a child’s executive functioning skills and emotional regulation. While they’re not always easy to implement, a consistent bedtime routine, regular physical activity, and stable mealtimes can form a very solid foundation for children with ADHD.

6. Spend quality time together

Psychiatrist Dr. Shirin Hasan puts it best: “Your relationship with your child matters most.” In fact, Dr. Hasan recommends spending dedicated one-on-one time together every day. Children with ADHD often feel they are letting others down (especially when they’re often chastised by teachers), so celebrating and uplifting your child can go a long way in protecting their self-esteem and building their resilience.

Considering a different school pathway

If you truly feel like mainstream school simply isn’t working for your child, it’s not the only pathway out there. These days, numerous families are choosing online schooling for a better environment that suits their child’s ADHD.

At King’s InterHigh, for example, gone are the busy corridors, distracting chatter, sensory demands, and all the other difficulties you may find in a traditional classroom. Our live lessons take place in small, focused classes, and all lessons are recorded so your child can revisit important information as many times as they need to.

One in three students in our community has a special educational need, which is why personalisation and support are woven into everything we do. From day one, you can customise an Inclusive Teaching Plan (ITP) for your child, which details all the adjustments your child needs across their classes (from scaffolding support to deadline adjustments). All our teachers are trained in inclusive education, and our tailored approach means your child can learn in the best way for them.

The next chapter can look different

A child with ADHD doesn’t need to become a different child. They simply need an environment that stops working against them. When the right adjustments are in place and when your child begins to feel understood, their potential becomes endless. Neurodivergence should never be a ceiling, and while making a change isn’t always straightforward, know that you’re right to want a better path for your child.