The SASC Route to Maths Assessment

SASC Guidance:
Assessment of Maths Difficulties and Dyscalculia 2026

If you already hold an Assessment Practising Certificate (APC) for SpLD (Dyslexia), the route to adding Dyscalculia/SpLD Math to your remit is specialised. Although you may already have strong assessment skills, the focus shifts to demonstrating specific competency in the understanding of mathematical cognitive processing, attainment and the evaluation of maths difficulties.

Below is a summary of the SASC (SpLD Assessment Standards Committee) requirements to ensure you are eligible to carry out assessments for maths difficulties.

SASC Maths Difficulties and Dyscalculia Guidance March 25/table 3.

Identify Your Pathway
There are two primary ways to add “Dyscalculia/SpLD Maths” to your APC, depending on your prior training:

• Pathway A (Recent Specialist Qualification): You have recently completed a SASC-approved Level 7 postgraduate qualification specifically in Dyscalculia/Maths assessment
• Pathway B (Experience & Short Courses): You have significant experience in teaching and assessing maths difficulties, and have completed appropriate training – approved CPD (Continuing Professional Development) specifically focused on maths difficulties.

Flowchart – how to obtain an APC with maths qualifications

It is a requirement of HCPC and the BPS for psychologists and APC issuing organisations and their relevant governing bodies for specialist teacher assessors that assessors should work within their range of expertise (acquired through appropriate qualifications and experience), use appropriate assessment tools, and be fully up to date in their professional development. Any diagnostic decision might, ultimately, need to be defensible in court. Where an individual’s difficulties fall beyond the scope of an assessor’s professional boundaries, that individual should be referred on for further assessment by a suitably qualified assessor. This is most likely to occur when: 

• an assessor has only been trained in literacy skills (or has minimal training in mathematics)
• and/or where a SpLD in mathematics/dyscalculia (as defined in the SASC guidance) is suspected and the assessor does not have sufficient experience, training and knowledge to evaluate the relevant skills, 
• and/or where the mathematics difficulties are having a very major impact upon the individual’s ability to perform effectively in education, the workplace and/or daily life and the assessor does not have sufficient experience, training and knowledge to understand or assess that impact or make suitable recommendations.

Core Requirements

Regardless of the pathway, you must demonstrate:

• Theoretical Knowledge: Understanding the development of numerical abilities and the nature of maths difficulties, through teaching

• Testing Competency: Mastery of specific math-based assessment tools

• Report Writing: The ability to synthesise math-specific data into a formal SASC-compliant report.

The Dyslexia Guild are offering a free ‘Pre-check’ process
(for Guild members with Member-MDG or Fellow-FDG membership status)

If you hold an SpLD literacy assessment qualification at HEQF level 7 i.e., PG assessment certificate or diploma eligible for MDG or FDG with the Guild you are eligible to proceed with the following ‘pre-check’ process. Please note: Incomplete forms will not be accepted

Pre-Check process (MDG or FDG members):

1.Gather Evidence: You should have the following to hand for upload:

• Qualification certificates focused on your maths training
• A detailed up to date CV which evidences:
  • relevant reaching of students with maths difficulties (20 hours)
  • maths assessment experience (20 hours)
• A Log showing extensive maths-specific CPD training

2. Access the “Pre-check form here 

3. Complete the form (uploading required documents where necessary, incomplete forms will not be accepted)

4. Submit the completed form.

Next steps (once the pre-check form is submitted and confirmed as eligible)

Approval of your pre-check documents typically takes 10 business days. Once confirmed, you’ll receive a link to submit your payment of £495 (inc. VAT) fee. Once payment is confirmed you’ll be invited to upload your maths assessment to our VLE Moodle (this may take 7-10 days).

Important: Payment and submission do not guarantee eligibility. All applications undergo a review of the maths report; we reserve the right to reject applications without a refund if they do not meet our final criteria.

If you have any queries please email: apc@dyslexiaaction.org.uk or call +44 (0) 1784-222342.