What do referrers want in an assessment report? Before a referring physician or a school acts on it, they quietly run every report through the same short checklist: does it answer the question I asked, are the findings clear, and are the recommendations something I can actually do on Monday? The eight questions below are that checklist made explicit.
I'm not a clinician, so I won't tell you how to write your findings. But I hear the referrer side of this constantly, and the reports that land well tend to answer these questions without the reader having to dig.
A referrer reads with a pen in hand, looking for answers to a few specific questions.
The 8 questions at a glance
- Does this report answer the referral question I actually asked?
- What are the findings, in plain language?
- What do the recommendations mean for what I do next?
- Is it clear which conclusions the data actually support?
- How current and reliable is this assessment?
- Can I hand this to a family or a teacher and have them understand it?
- Are the important results easy to find, or buried?
- Who do I contact with a follow-up question?
Does this report answer the referral question I actually asked?
This is the first thing a referrer checks, and the most common place reports fall short. If they asked a specific question, they want a specific answer, near the top, in words that map to what they sent you.
Research on what readers value bears this out: a review in the Canadian Journal of School Psychology notes that "reports that noted a clear link between the referral question and corresponding answers were also favored," and lists "poor links between the referral questions and the results and recommendations" among the persistent problems in report writing. Close that loop explicitly and half the referrer's checklist is already satisfied.
What are the findings, in plain language?
They want the results stated in words, not left as a table of scores to decode. A referrer skimming between appointments needs the meaning, not the raw metric.
Numbers can stay for the record, but each one should be paired with a plain sentence about what it indicates. The same review found that readers preferred reports "organized by themes rather than in a test-by-test format." A referrer should be able to read a heading and know what they're about to learn.
What do the recommendations mean for what I do next?
A referrer reads the recommendations as a to-do list, so they want them specific, practical, and assignable. Vague advice gets skimmed and dropped.
The literature is consistent that readers prefer "recommendations that could be practically implemented." Name who does what, in what setting, and what it should look like. A recommendation a physician or a teacher can picture themselves carrying out is the part of the report that actually changes something.
A referrer reads for reasoning they can act on, not just a verdict.
Is it clear which conclusions the data actually support?
Referrers — especially physicians and anyone who might see the report in a formal process — want to see the reasoning, not just the verdict. They're checking that each conclusion is tied to evidence and that you haven't over-claimed.
That link between data and conclusion is also what makes a report hold up under scrutiny later. I wrote about that at length in elements of a defensible psychological report, but the short version is: a referrer trusts a finding more when they can see the floor it stands on.
How current and reliable is this assessment?
They want to know the assessment reflects the client now — the dates, the methods, and any limits on how far the findings should be stretched. A referrer acting on stale or overreaching conclusions is exposed, and they know it.
Being upfront about scope and limitations doesn't weaken the report. It tells a careful reader you know exactly what your data can and can't say, which is precisely what makes them comfortable acting on it.
Can I hand this to a family or a teacher and have them understand it?
Often the referrer isn't the only reader — they'll pass the report to a parent or a teacher, and they want to know it won't need translating. Reading level is a real barrier here.
The Canadian review points out that "most psychological reports are typically written at a 15- to 16-year educational reading level," well above what most non-specialist readers can comfortably follow. A separate peer-reviewed study on report readability found that simple writing rules — plain domains, everyday examples, less jargon, shorter sentences — "led to improved ratings of readability, and helped readers recall more information." Write for the parent, and the referrer trusts you with the next one.
Are the important results easy to find, or buried?
A referrer wants to locate the answer fast, which means structure and length matter as much as content. If the key finding is on page seven inside a wall of text, it may as well not be there.
Clear headings, a findings-forward order, and restraint on length all serve the reader who has three minutes. The report is doing its job when someone can scan it and land on what they need without reading every line.
Who do I contact with a follow-up question?
The small, practical one that gets forgotten: referrers want an obvious way to reach you. A report that answers eight questions but leaves the reader unsure who to call has one loose end too many.
Make the contact path unmistakable, and note your openness to a brief follow-up. It signals the report is the start of a working relationship, not a document thrown over a wall. This matters most in formal contexts like school eligibility reports, where a referrer may need one clarifying answer before a meeting.
The short version
Referrers judge a report by a short, consistent list: does it answer the question asked, are the findings and recommendations clear and usable, is the reasoning sound, is it current, is it readable by the family, is it easy to navigate, and can they reach you. Write to those eight and your reports land.
Every one of those answers depends on your judgment — that part is yours and stays yours. What eats the hours is assembling the document around the judgment. If you'd like that assembly handled so more of your time goes to answering the referral well, here is how Soma drafts a report you review and sign, in your structure and voice.
Thank you for the care you put into reports that other people have to trust and act on. It shows.
— Ian
