North-south autism assessment divide leaves children waiting three years longer 

(Press-News.org) Children in the North of England are waiting up to three years longer than those in the south for an autism diagnosis, new data analysis shows. 

The data, released by NHS England, reveals that children in Mid and South Essex are waiting on average 54 days for an assessment – falling within National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines of 13 weeks.  

However, in South Yorkshire, children wait on average 1,063 days – almost three years longer. 

Published today by the Child of the North initiative, the data also shows: 

only 4.5% of under 18s with an autism referral had received an appointment within the recommended 13 weeks across the whole of England 

Girls of Pakistani heritage are 11 times less likely to receive an autism diagnosis than White British heritage boys 

The number of referrals for an ADHD assessment has increased by over 22% from June 2024 to 2025 

The new report, titled Autism Assessment and Support Update: The Crisis is Worsening, is the first to be released as part of the Child of the North’s #ChildrenFirst campaign.  

Professor Mark Mon-Williams, from the University of Leeds, who led today’s report, said: “The autism assessment process was already in crisis in 2024 – and our new report shows the situation is getting worse. This is not good enough and we need urgent change. This is why we have launched our campaign, which provides evidence-based solutions that people on the ground can implement to make changes where they are most needed. We also need to encourage everyone to play their role in building a country that works for all children and young people.” 

The campaign was launched at the National Opportunity Summit hosted in Leeds on Monday 8 September, where Minister Josh MacAllister pledged his support towards building a country that works for all children on his first day as Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Department for Education. 

#ChildrenFirst builds on a major series of reports produced last year on key topics identified by Northern child health leaders as major issues of concern, including poverty, special educational needs, school attendance and mental health. The reports included evidence-based plans and recommendations for policymakers to help address these issues.  

The #ChildrenFirst campaign also includes the launch of toolkits designed to help schools, child health workers and local authorities take practical steps to improve the health and wellbeing issues faced by the children and young people in their care. 

The toolkits will be published on a weekly basis over the next 12 weeks alongside the re-released reports in the ‘A country that works for all children and young people’ series, which were produced jointly by Child of the North – a collaboration between the N8 Research Partnership and Health Equity North – and the Centre for Young Lives think tank. 

The toolkits provide evidence and suggestions about how all parties can work together to build a country that works for all children and young people. 

Baroness Anne Longfield, Founder of the Centre for Young Lives, said: “The number of children waiting for an autism assessment has rocketed over recent years and continues to rise. This crisis is leaving thousands of children without the support they need, putting pressure and stress on families.  

  

“If we’re to tackle the challenges around attendance and exclusion, we need a system that responds to the needs of autistic children and doesn’t wait for diagnosis before providing help. 

  

“These evidence-based solutions provide a welcome toolkit for practitioners, service leaders, and local government to transform and improve that support and help.” 

 

Each of the 12 reports is based on in-depth research carried out by academic experts in children and young people’s health and wellbeing from universities across the North of England and beyond, including N8 Research Partnership members Leeds, Manchester, Durham, York, Lancaster, Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle, the University of Bradford, and others. 

The policy recommendations made in the reports have helped to shape the Government's Opportunity Mission - the goal of which is to break down the link between a person’s background and their future success, and giving children the best start in life. The aim of the toolkits is to ensure alignment between practitioners on the ground and the government’s work on the Opportunity Mission, to make certain that every child has the best possible start in life. 

Professor Mark Mon-Williams said: “The evidence is clear that the UK needs a healthy and well educated population, and that means building a country that works for all children and young people. Through our campaign, we are working to build the country that children deserve. The numbers are stark - but we can make improve outcomes for the next generation by using the evidence-based solutions we have highlighted. Together we can make a difference.” 

Further information 

Visit the N8 website to view the reports and toolkits. 

Contact University of Leeds press officer Lauren Ballinger with media enquiries via email on l.ballinger@leeds.ac.uk or by phone on 0113 3438059. 

 

University of Leeds  

The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 40,000 students from more than 150 different countries. We are renowned globally for the quality of our teaching and research.  

We are a values-driven university, and we harness our expertise in research and education to help shape a better future for humanity, working through collaboration to tackle inequalities, achieve societal impact and drive change.   

The University is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, and plays a significant role in the Turing, Rosalind Franklin and Royce Institutes. www.leeds.ac.uk   

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Child of the North 
Child of the North is a partnership between the N8 Research Partnership and Health Equity North and includes partners from across the North of England. Its vision is to develop a platform for collaboration, high-quality research, and policy engagement to support fairer futures for children living in the North of England.  

N8 Research Partnership 
The N8 Research Partnership is a strategic collaboration between the universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and York, and aims to maximise the impact of this research base to enable business innovation and societal transformation. N8 creates programmes involving a critical mass of world class academics which form networks of innovation excellence with partners in other sectors, to drive investment and economic growth.

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