Aptitude and career assessment

An aptitude assessment measures what a person is actually good at — reasoning with words, with numbers, with space and pattern, with detail — using internationally validated instruments rather than an opinion about what they seem suited to. It is administered one-to-one by a qualified clinical psychologist and written up as a report.

Vocational assessment

Vocational assessment sits alongside it and asks a different question: not only what someone is able to do, but what kind of work they are drawn to, what conditions they do their best work in, and where those two lines meet. Aptitude on its own tells you what a person can do. Interest on its own tells you what they think they want. The report is written around the overlap, because that is where a durable decision usually sits.

Most people arrive at it at a fork. A student choosing subjects, or a degree, with a family that already has a view. A young adult a year into a programme that is plainly not working. Someone mid-career who is capable, competent and has stopped wanting to do it.

PHC is an assessment-first practice, and that applies here as much as anywhere clinical.

1. An initial session.We ask what the decision actually is, who is involved in it, what has been tried and what is driving the timing. Bring academic results if the question is a subject or a degree. Nothing is administered before this conversation.
2. A decision about what is warranted.Whether aptitude testing, vocational testing or both are indicated — and whether what is in the way is really the decision at all. Sometimes it is not. Where the initial session finds that the block is anxiety, low mood or pressure at home, we will say so. You will not be given tests you do not need.
3. Administration, in person, by a qualified clinical psychologist.Structured, timed ability tasks and structured interest and preference measures. Assessment sessions run about two hours for a child and about three hours for an adult. Where sessions are held daily an assessment is usually finished in about a week; more often it takes two to three weeks, and we do not recommend stretching it past three — the length depends on what the initial session found was warranted, and you are told before you come.
4. A written report.What was administered, the profile of strengths across the areas tested, where interest and ability align, and what those two together point towards — in ordinary language, so a student and a parent can read the same document. The report is with you in two to three weeks, depending on how complex the case is. The tests are scored and interpreted, the report is written, and Prof. Dr. Tahira Yousaf reviews and approves it before it is handed over.
5. A conversation about what follows.A profile is not a decision. Where the next step is working through the choice itself, rather than measuring anything further, the route is career counselling at PHC.

School and college students choosing subjects or a degree, university students reconsidering a course, and adults considering a change. Parents very often attend the first conversation, and that is welcome.

It is not for a family that wants a document to settle an argument with. We will describe what the testing found, including where it does not support what anyone in the room was hoping for, and the person assessed is the person the report is written for.

It is also not the right starting point if what is actually happening is that someone cannot get out of bed, is dreading every morning, or has stopped being able to decide anything at all. That is a different conversation and we would rather have that one first.

Not sure whether this is us? Contact us anyway. We will tell you directly whether we can help, and refer you elsewhere if we cannot.

Every psychologist on PHC's panel is qualified to carry out assessments. Most assessment work is done by the three permanent psychologists — Samrah Abdul Rafey, Hassaan Ahmed Pasha and Nabiha Rasheed.

Every psychologist at PHC holds a minimum postgraduate qualification in clinical psychology and completed over 800 supervised clinical hours before joining. Assignment is based on speciality, your presenting needs and clinical fit — never on who happens to be free — and who administers your assessment is decided at the initial session.

See every psychologist at PHC.