Telling the School About Your Child’s OCD

Where to start

• First agree with your child what is shared, then ask the pastoral lead or SENCo for a short meeting.
• Tell them the plan at home, including what to say when asked for reassurance.
• Agree one named adult your child can go to, and a date to review the adjustments.
• For GCSEs and A levels, arrangements such as rest breaks or extra time have to be your child’s normal way of working in school first, and extra time also needs evidence from a specialist such as CAMHS, so raise them early.
• There is a helpline for people affected by OCD, including parents. OCD Action, 0300 636 5478. Email support@ocdaction.org.uk. Mon-Fri 9.30am-8pm; leave a message if nobody answers and a volunteer calls back. Outside those hours the line is closed. OCD Action points anyone who needs urgent support to Samaritans, who answer at any hour on 116 123, and Shout answer if you text the word SHOUT to 85258.
• If your child drinks little at school to avoid the toilets, tell the GP, and ask the school for a toilet they can use. If fears about contamination have stopped them eating or drinking enough, ask for an urgent GP appointment that day.

The rest of the tip, and why it works, is in the library.

Sources

NICE, Obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment (CG31, 2005), section 1.2 and recommendations 1.1.4.1, 1.5.2.9 and 1.5.2.12; Anna Freud, Supporting children and young people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) (undated); Great Ormond Street Hospital, Tourette syndrome and OCD in the classroom (undated); OCD Action, Helpline (2026); OCD-UK, A guide for parents and caregivers of children and young people suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder: your questions answered (2023); Department for Education, Mental health issues affecting a pupil’s attendance: guidance for schools (2023); Joint Council for Qualifications, Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (2025 to 2026, updated March 2026), sections 4.2.5, 4.2.6 and 5.1; NHS, Dehydration (2026)

It goes with

• When the Worry Makes the Rules. A chapter for parents whose child’s worry has started to come with rituals, and whose family has started keeping them.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

• OCD. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
• School stress. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.