Cut-off

Services and tests draw lines through their scales, and which side of a line a child's score falls on can decide what happens next: whether a referral referral When a professional passes your child on to a specialist team for assessment or treatment. A GP, school or health visitor can usually make one. Read the full definition of referral is accepted, whether a diagnosis is given, whether extra time Access arrangements Extra help a child can have in public exams, such as extra time, a separate room, a reader or a scribe. The school puts them in place, following exam board rules. Read the full definition of Access arrangements in exams is granted. A common example is a standardised score below 85, or below a set centile, being required before certain support is offered.

Cut-offs are chosen by services and test publishers. They vary from area to area and from test to test, and they move when policies change. They are practical lines for managing demand, not laws of nature, and a child one point above a cut-off does not have one point fewer needs than a child just below it.

Scores near a cut-off are exactly where the confidence interval Confidence interval A range printed after a test score, like 84 (79 to 91). It is the test's honest way of saying the single number is an estimate, and the true score most likely sits inside that range. Read the full definition of Confidence interval earns its keep. If your child misses a threshold Threshold The level of need a family must show before a service will step in. Most local areas set out their thresholds in a document you can ask to see. Read the full definition of Threshold narrowly, it is fair to ask what the cut-off is, who set it, and whether the score's confidence interval crosses it.