ASRS v1.1
The WHO-developed Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale — 18 items, of which a 6-item Part A forms the screener proper. Widely validated, widely used in research and primary care. Explicitly a screening instrument, not a diagnostic one.
ADHD Meaning / ADHD tests
screening, honestlyADHD tests.
You can find a hundred ADHD quizzes online in about four seconds. Here's what they genuinely can tell you, what they cannot, and what clinicians actually use instead.
Based on peer-reviewed validation studies of screening instruments
Last updated July 2026
Informational — not a diagnosis
please read this first
This page is not an official ADHD test, quiz or diagnostic tool.
We deliberately don't offer a self-scoring ADHD quiz, and no online questionnaire — ours or anyone else's — can diagnose ADHD or rule it out. ADHD is diagnosed only by a qualified professional, through a clinical assessment. What follows is an explanation of how real screening works, so you can judge what any result actually means.
01 — screening vs diagnosis
Two very different things.
A screener is a wide net. It's designed to be quick and to flag people who might warrant a closer look — deliberately erring toward catching possibilities rather than being precise. A diagnosis is a clinical judgement built from a structured interview, a developmental history reaching back before age 12, evidence across more than one setting, functional impact, and the ruling-out of other explanations.
A screener asks "is this worth investigating?" A diagnosis answers "what is actually going on?" The first cannot substitute for the second — and the tools clinicians use say so themselves.
02 — the real instruments
What clinicians actually use.
Conners scales
Rating scales used across ages, often gathered from more than one informant — a parent and a teacher, for instance — which helps establish that difficulties appear in multiple settings.
DIVA-5
A semi-structured diagnostic interview built around DSM-5 criteria, covering both childhood and adult symptoms. Administered by a clinician — much closer to an actual assessment than a questionnaire.
the number that matters most
In the original WHO validation of the ASRS six-item screener, specificity was very high — around 99.5%, meaning few people without ADHD screened positive — but sensitivity was roughly 68.7%. In plain terms: it missed close to a third of people who genuinely had ADHD. A negative screen does not rule ADHD out. If your lived experience says otherwise, that's worth more than a questionnaire result.
03 — the limits
Why online quizzes mislead.
- Nearly everyone recognises themselves. The behaviours are universal; only the frequency, duration and functional cost make them clinical.
- Other things produce the same answers. Anxiety, sleep deprivation, thyroid problems, grief, trauma and depression can all generate an ADHD-shaped questionnaire result. In one study of adults with major depressive disorder, the ASRS screener's positive predictive value fell to about 21% — meaning roughly four out of five positive screens in that group did not turn out to be ADHD.
- They can't see the timeline. ADHD requires symptoms present before age 12. A snapshot of the last six months cannot establish that.
- They can't check settings. Difficulty in only one context often reflects that context, not a neurodevelopmental condition.
- Many exist to sell you something. A "free ADHD test" frequently ends at a paid assessment funnel.
04 — what to do instead
Something more useful than a score.
If you suspect ADHD, the highest-value thing you can do isn't a quiz — it's assembling evidence a clinician can actually work with. Write down specific, dated examples rather than labels: not "I'm disorganised" but "I missed two deadlines last month and paid a late fee twice." Dig out school reports. Ask a parent or long-term partner what they noticed. Note the cost to your work, relationships and finances.
Our appointment prep tool builds exactly this into a printable summary. Then take it to the right route: how assessment works in the UK or in the US.
quick answers
Testing questions.
No. No online questionnaire can diagnose ADHD. Validated instruments like the ASRS are screening tools that flag whether further evaluation is worthwhile — their own documentation states they are not diagnostic. Diagnosis requires a clinical assessment by a qualified professional.
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, developed with the World Health Organization. It's well validated as a screener, with high specificity — around 99.5% in the original validation — but sensitivity of roughly 68.7%, meaning it missed close to a third of people who genuinely had ADHD.
No. Screening tools miss a meaningful proportion of genuine cases, and they perform less well for people whose symptoms are mainly inattentive or who have learned to mask. If your experience suggests otherwise, that's worth raising with a professional regardless of a questionnaire result.
Because a score would imply a precision we can't honestly provide, and both false reassurance and false alarm cause real harm. We'd rather help you understand what screening does, and prepare properly for an assessment that can actually give you an answer.
Anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, thyroid conditions, grief and trauma can all produce similar questionnaire answers. Self-tests also can't verify symptoms before age 12 or check that difficulties appear across multiple settings — both of which are required for diagnosis.
Gather specific dated examples of difficulties and their real-world cost, find childhood evidence such as school reports, and ask someone who has known you a long time what they observed. Take that to a GP or clinician — it's far more useful than any score.
sources & references
Where this comes from.
01
Performance of the ASRS-v1.1 in adults with major depressive disorder ↗clinical studyPsychiatry Research (validation study)
02
The WHO Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS): original validation — sensitivity 68.7%, specificity 99.5% ↗validation studyKessler et al., 2005, Psychological Medicine
03
04
how to read the badgescohort studysurvey / cross-sectionalagency / statuteguideline / charitypreliminary