In November 2024, Absolutely Education published “Smarter dyslexia testing with Talamo”, by Libby Norman. It was one of the first pieces of press about our dyslexia screener, written around the time it launched to schools.

A lot has changed since then, so we wanted to look back at what the article said and set it alongside where Talamo is today.

Read the full article on Absolutely Education →

What the article covered

The piece introduced our new dyslexia screener for children aged 7 to 16, with Year 3 or Year 4 as the ideal time to screen. It explained that the screener had been built over two years, using Woodcock-Johnson assessment content from Riverside Insights, adapted for digital delivery.

It also included a comment from Lucy Pelling, Head of SEN & Assessment Centre at Moon Hall, Reigate, who described the screener as “a game changer” (quoted in Absolutely Education, November 2024).

The figures at the time

The article quoted figures from launch. They were accurate at the time but are now out of date, so we’ve labelled them clearly:

• Accuracy at launch: 94%

• Testing at the time: 1,400 UK children across 18 schools, including two specialist dyslexia schools

Please don’t rely on these numbers today. Our evidence has moved on a long way since 2024. For example, our Cognitive & Dyslexia risk model now agrees with specialist reviewers’ judgement in 95% of the profiles in our current specialist-reviewed benchmark set. You’ll find the full picture, and how each figure is measured, on our research page.

What has changed since

Many more schools. Talamo is now used in over 1,300 schools and has screened over 25,000 children.

Three assessments, not one. We’ve grown from a dyslexia screener into a broader SEND screening platform. Alongside Cognitive & Dyslexia, schools can now use Executive Function and Maths & Dyscalculia assessments, with reporting across pupils, classes and cohorts.

New norms. The Cognitive & Dyslexia assessment’s current norms were built in summer 2026 from 4,580 pupils in 85 UK schools, covering ages 7 to 16.

Riverside Insights. We still work with Riverside Insights. Seven of the nine scales in the Cognitive & Dyslexia assessment are adapted for digital delivery from the Woodcock-Johnson IV, developed with its publisher, Riverside Insights.

The British Dyslexia Association. Talamo was selected through the BDA’s two-stage tender process, and the BDA considers Talamo a suitable screening tool for children aged 10⁠–⁠16. That applies to our Cognitive & Dyslexia assessment, for ages 10⁠–⁠16 only. You can read what it means in Our relationship with the British Dyslexia Association.

For parents. Parents can still use our dyslexia screener at home, for £69. Our other two assessments are for schools.

Explore the three assessments →

What hasn’t changed

The idea behind the article still holds. Screening should be accessible and affordable, so that more children have their needs spotted early.

And Talamo is still a screening tool, not a diagnosis. Results can be consistent with dyslexia, and they help schools and families decide what to do next. Where a pupil needs more, a specialist assessment is what can confirm a diagnosis and open the door to formal support.

More press coverage

Since then, Talamo has also been covered by BBC News and HuffPost UK, both in 2025. You can read about each on our blog: We made the BBC! and We made the HuffPost UK!. The figures in those pieces are also from the time.

Thank you

Thank you to Libby Norman and Absolutely Education for covering us so early on, and to Lucy Pelling for her kind words.