In short
ADHD exam coaching from Performance Learning teaches children and teenagers with ADHD how to organise their work, focus in short bursts, remember and recall what they learn, and approach exams with confidence. It does not diagnose or treat ADHD and does not re-teach subjects. It starts with the £50 Foresight assessment, followed by SOAR online learning, a Virtual Classroom or one-to-one coaching with Dr Tej Samani.
Why can school feel so hard for children with ADHD?
School places heavy demands on learning skills that most children are expected to pick up on their own. Every lesson asks them to organise information, hold their attention, remember instructions, retain new knowledge and recall it under pressure. For many children with ADHD, these invisible skills take far more mental effort than people realise.
That’s why progress can look so inconsistent. Your child may shine in one lesson and struggle in the next, or spend hours on homework with little to show for it, because so much energy goes into simply staying organised and focused.
Over time, confidence can fall and anxiety can grow. Many children start to believe the problem is who they are rather than how they learn. Performance Learning asks a different question: not “Why can’t this child concentrate?” but “How can we help this child learn more effectively?”
What is ADHD exam coaching?
ADHD exam coaching teaches your child the learning skills that school assumes they already have, adapted to suit how they learn best. Performance Learning covers:
- Organisation: clear routines, visual checklists and plans that remove unnecessary decisions.
- Focus: short learning bursts with one clear goal and a defined finish point.
- Memory and recall: active techniques such as retrieval practice and spaced repetition.
- Exam technique: simple frameworks for breaking down questions and organising thoughts before writing.
- Time management: planning revision and pacing within an exam.
- Stress and confidence: noticing progress and celebrating consistency, not perfection.
This follows Performance Learning’s Seven Steps to Learning Success: organise it, structure it, retain it, recall it, understand it, analyse it and apply it. For a child with ADHD, any one of these stages can become a barrier, so coaching adapts each stage rather than expecting your child to fit a traditional way of learning.
Performance Learning does not diagnose ADHD, and coaching is not a medical treatment. It works alongside the support your child receives from school and from any health professionals involved.
How should a child with ADHD revise?
Not harder, but differently. Many traditional revision methods, such as sitting quietly for an hour or rereading notes, demand sustained attention, working memory and organisation all at once. When those methods don’t work, it is usually the method that has failed, not the child. These are some of the principles Performance Learning uses:
- Keep sessions short. Focused bursts with regular resets work better than long sessions that tail off.
- Set one clear goal. “Learn the stages of photosynthesis” is far easier to start than “Revise biology”.
- Learn actively. Explain ideas aloud, draw diagrams and answer questions from memory.
- Reduce decisions as well as distractions. Have the right books ready, know the topic, use a timer and set a finish point.
- Retrieve rather than reread. Close the book and ask, “What can I remember?”
- Celebrate consistency. A good session is one where learning happened, not one where everything was remembered.
For more practical ideas, read Dr Tej’s advice on helping your child focus in a distracted world and our guide to improving working memory in children.
How does ADHD exam coaching work?
- Book a call. Talk to the Performance Learning team about your child, what school feels like for them and what you have already tried. There’s no obligation.
- Take the Foresight assessment (£50). The Foresight assessment takes about 25 minutes online and shows how your child manages time, sleep and energy, retention and recall, and stress. You receive one-page action plans for your child and for you, plus a 35-page report you can share with school or support teams. An optional 30-minute review call costs £45.
- Choose a coaching route.
- SOAR Online Learning, £10 a month: Foresight plus unlimited access to an adaptive platform with personalised pathways, on-demand coaching and monthly progress monitoring.
- Virtual Classroom with PL, £295: two live, interactive 2-hour masterclasses in a small group, with a Foresight assessment included.
- Academic Transformation with Dr Tej, application only: year-round one-to-one coaching and mentoring with Dr Tej Samani, with SOAR between sessions.
What can parents expect?
You can expect the team to take time to understand how your child learns, which of the Seven Steps they find hardest and where their strengths lie. From there, coaching focuses on the skills that will make the biggest difference to how calm, confident and independent they feel.
You also get your own action plan, so you can support your child at home in a way that reduces conflict rather than adding to it. ADHD does not define your child’s potential, and the goal is to help them discover that they are capable of far more than they currently believe.
What is the evidence behind Performance Learning?
Students using Performance Learning improved by an average of 2.4 grades against their predicted grades (Thomas et al., 2024, an analysis of 940 students led by Birkbeck’s Centre for Educational Neuroscience). This is an average across Performance Learning students, not a figure specific to ADHD or a promise for any individual child. The approach was developed by Dr Tej Samani from his research into how pupils learn, which you can read on our research page.
Frequently asked questions
Does Performance Learning diagnose ADHD?
No. Performance Learning does not diagnose ADHD or any other condition, and the Foresight assessment is not a diagnostic test. Foresight looks at learning behaviours, wellbeing and attainment factors such as recall, time management, sleep and stress, to show how your child learns and what is getting in the way. If you think your child may have ADHD, speak to your GP or your child's school, who can advise on assessment.
Does my child need an ADHD diagnosis to start coaching?
No. Performance Learning's coaching focuses on learning skills such as organisation, focus, memory and exam technique, which help any child who finds them difficult. You don't need a formal diagnosis to book a call or a Foresight assessment. If your child does have a diagnosis or a support plan at school, mention it on the call so the team understands the full picture.
Can my child get extra time in exams because of ADHD?
Possibly, but Performance Learning does not decide this. Access arrangements such as extra time or rest breaks are agreed through your child's school or college, usually by the SENCo and exams officer. For GCSEs and A levels they follow exam-board rules published by the Joint Council for Qualifications. Decisions depend on evidence of your child's needs and their normal way of working, so talk to the school early. Coaching skills such as time management still apply either way.
How is ADHD exam coaching different from tutoring?
Tutoring usually re-teaches the content of one subject. Performance Learning's ADHD exam coaching teaches the learning skills that sit underneath every subject: getting organised, starting tasks, focusing in short bursts, remembering and recalling information and staying calm in exams. Many children with ADHD understand the content in the moment but struggle to hold on to it, which is the gap coaching is designed to close. It works well alongside tutoring.
What age is Performance Learning's ADHD exam coaching for?
Performance Learning's ADHD exam coaching supports children and teenagers who are preparing for GCSEs or A levels, or who are simply finding school difficult. The starting point is the Foresight assessment, which takes about 25 minutes online. On a call, the Performance Learning team can advise which coaching route best suits your child's age, stage and needs.
How much does ADHD exam coaching cost?
Every route starts with the Foresight assessment, which costs £50, with an optional £45 live review call. After that, SOAR online learning costs £10 a month including Foresight, the Virtual Classroom with PL costs £295 for two live 2-hour group sessions plus an assessment, and Academic Transformation with Dr Tej Samani is by application only. Full details are on the Performance Learning pricing page.