ADHD Assessment Singapore: Cost from $150 + Where to Go

A teacher mentioned your child can't sit still or finish work, and the word "ADHD" came up. Or you've been reading late at night, recognising your own child (or yourself) in every description. Now you want the practical answers nobody gives you upfront: who actually does an ADHD assessment in Singapore, what does it cost, and how long is the wait?

Here's the honest version. There are two routes: a subsidised public route through a polyclinic referral to a government hospital, which costs less and where the wait is shorter than the horror stories suggest, and a private route that's faster still but costs significantly more. This guide lays out both, with real dollar figures, so you know what the next appointment will actually cost.

The Short Answer

An ADHD assessment is not a single test or brain scan. It's a clinical evaluation done by a psychiatrist or psychologist over one or more sessions. In Singapore you can get it two ways: the subsidised route (polyclinic or CHAS GP referral to KKH, NUH or IMH, where a full assessment can run roughly $150 to $800 for citizens/PRs, and MOH data puts the median wait to a first appointment at 26 days) or the private route (a private psychologist or psychiatrist, where a full assessment commonly runs $1,800 to $3,500, usually within a few weeks). A written diagnostic report is the key output, and it's what schools need for exam accommodations.

What ADHD Testing Actually Involves

There's a common misconception that an ADHD test is a quick checklist or a scan. It isn't. There is no single test for ADHD, no blood test, brain scan or computer game that settles it, which is why clinicians talk about an assessment rather than a test. ADHD is diagnosed from patterns of behaviour seen across settings and over time, so a proper assessment gathers several kinds of information and rules out other explanations. It typically includes:

• A developmental and family history interview
• Behaviour information from both home and school (often teacher questionnaires)
• Standardised rating scales (tools like the Conners-4 or BASC-3 that compare your child against age norms)
• Direct clinical observation
• Ruling out other causes: anxiety, sleep problems, or a learning difficulty can look like ADHD

Some Singapore clinics add computerised attention tests to that mix, tools like a continuous performance test (CPT) or QbTest, where your child responds to targets on a screen while attention and movement are measured. They add useful data, but the UK's NICE guidance is explicit that such tests may only support a standard clinical assessment, never replace it. The diagnosis still rests on the clinician's judgment against DSM-5 criteria.

A psychiatrist quoted in The Straits Times, Dr Wong, described the job plainly: "We look for longstanding patterns since childhood (age 12 and below), impairment over time, and we screen for sleep problems, mood/anxiety disorders, substance use and burnout, all of which can mimic ADHD." That's what real ADHD testing is, detective work rather than a scan.

Sometimes cognitive (IQ) testing is added, which helps if a learning difficulty or giftedness may sit alongside the attention issues. If you're getting a private quote, ask whether it includes full cognitive testing or just the ADHD-specific parts, because that changes the price.

Public Route: Polyclinic to KKH, NUH or IMH

For subsidised specialist fees, the referral is the money lever. A family-physician visit at a polyclinic is usually under $20, and the GP can refer your child to a hospital Specialist Outpatient Clinic (SOC). A CHAS GP clinic works the same way: MOE's assessment guidance confirms that children referred by polyclinics and CHAS clinics get subsidised rates at these hospitals. Walk in without that referral and the same hospital charges you private rates.

Where the referral lands depends mostly on your child's age:

• KKH Department of Child Development (DCD): lists ADHD among the conditions it manages, and mainly sees younger children. The first consultation is a full evaluation by a paediatrician. KKH publishes no official report timeline for ADHD assessments.
• NUH, two doors by age: children up to K2 (roughly under 7) go to the Child Development Unit, which runs community sites at Jurong Medical Centre and Keat Hong Community Club. From age 7 through adulthood, psychological and learning assessments sit with NUH's Department of Psychological Medicine.
• Child Guidance Clinic (CGC) at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH): sees children and youths under 18, at Buangkok Green Medical Park and the Health Promotion Board building on Outram Road, with a named ADHD service run by psychiatrists, psychologists and occupational therapists. The first visit is a 60-to-90-minute "Choice Appointment" with a trained professional, and a consultant psychiatrist reviews the case.
• REACH, the school route (Response, Early intervention and Assessment in Community mental Health): if your child is 7 or older, the school counsellor can start a referral to one of four zonal REACH teams, no polyclinic trip needed. MOH reported in 2023 that REACH sees urgent school referrals within 24 hours and less severe cases within 17 to 31 days, with ADHD assessments then done at IMH's CGC, KKH or NUH.

If you're the adult in the family wondering about yourself, the same mechanic applies: a polyclinic or GP referral to IMH's or NUH's specialist outpatient clinics gets you subsidised rates, or you can skip the referral and book privately. You're not an edge case either. NUHS puts ADHD at about 5 to 8 per cent of children and 2 to 7 per cent of adults in Singapore.

What to expect on cost and wait:

• Polyclinic GP referral: usually under $20
• Subsidised specialist consultation: around $45. IMH's first consultation has been reported at about $46 for children and $42 for adults (as reported by Unlocking ADHD and IMH fee coverage in CNA, 2023–2026)
• Full subsidised assessment: roughly $150 to $800 for citizens and PRs, depending on how many visits and tests are needed. No hospital publishes a package price, so treat this as a compiled estimate rather than an official figure
• Subsidised medication (if prescribed later): certain ADHD medications, such as Ritalin, are subsidised at restructured-hospital pharmacies
• Wait time: shorter than the forum horror stories. MOH told Parliament in October 2025 that the median wait from referral to first appointment for child and adolescent mental health services at NUH and IMH was 26 days in 2024, and the 90th to 95th percentile was about 84 days, so on that data roughly 9 in 10 were seen inside three months. That's the first appointment, not the finished assessment, which takes further sessions after it. KKH's developmental-paediatrics queue has no official published figure, and the months-long ranges you'll read online are individual anecdotes, not published data

If you'd rather not wait for a subsidised slot, most SOCs let you attend as a private (non-subsidised) patient for roughly $150 a consultation, still usually cheaper than a fully private clinic.

Private Route: Private Psychologist or Psychiatrist

Going directly to a private psychologist or psychiatrist is the fastest way to an assessment, typically within one to four weeks, and no referral is needed. You pay full fees for the speed and the choice of provider.

Typical private figures (as listed by Unlocking ADHD and Nightingale Pediatrics, accessed 2026):

• Private psychologist: from about $180 per hour
• Private psychiatrist: from about $250 per consultation
• Full private ADHD assessment: commonly $1,800 to $3,500, usually covering the intake, testing hours, scoring, and the feedback session and report

That band matches what clinics actually publish. As at July 2026, Dynamics Therapy Group lists an ADHD assessment at about $1,800 including the report and feedback session, 4MindHealth lists $2,500 to $2,700 for a four-to-six-hour assessment, and Lightfull Psychology's full adult ADHD assessment is $3,500. Many clinics publish no prices at all and quote on enquiry, which is exactly why you get every figure in writing.

There are also community options worth knowing about. For example, AMKFSC Community Services runs a Psychological Services Unit offering psychoeducational assessments for ages 5 to 16 at about $70 a session, with testing packages of roughly $750 to $1,120, though it serves residents of its constituency only. It's worth checking whether a Family Service Centre near you offers something similar.

Public vs Private: Side by Side

Can You Use MediSave or Insurance?

Mostly no, and it catches families off guard. MediSave and MediShield Life are built for hospitalisation and specific approved treatments, not for an outpatient developmental or psychiatric assessment, so most families pay the assessment fee out of pocket.

The reason is structural. MediSave's outpatient claiming runs through MOH's Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP), a fixed list of 23 conditions, and ADHD is not on it. Four mental-health conditions are (schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety), so if your child is also being treated for one of those, MediSave can apply to that treatment within CDMP limits, just never to the ADHD assessment itself.

CHAS doesn't discount the assessment either. Its role sits upstream: a CHAS GP's referral, like a polyclinic's, is what gets you subsidised specialist rates at KKH, NUH or IMH.

Some Integrated Shield Plans include outpatient specialist or psychiatric benefits, but coverage varies a lot by insurer and plan tier. If you hold an ISP, it's worth checking your policy wording for "outpatient specialist" or "outpatient psychiatric" cover before you assume anything. Confirm current MediSave rules with your provider, as they change.

That's the cost of the assessment itself. The bigger question most parents actually have is what a diagnosis does to insurance going forward, whether it counts as a pre-existing condition, and whether it can get a future application declined. See CareCompare's guide on ADHD and insurance in Singapore for that.

After a Diagnosis: What Support Exists

A diagnosis is the start, not the end. Depending on your child's age and needs:

• Under 6: children with developmental needs can be referred to the government-subsidised Early Intervention Programme (EIPIC), where fees are means-tested. See CareCompare's EIPIC guide for costs and how to apply.
• School support: the written report is what MOE schools use to grant exam access arrangements such as extra time. Ask whether the assessment is DSM-5 based, as that's generally required.
• Medication: if prescribed, common ADHD medications are subsidised at restructured-hospital pharmacies.
• Still not sure if it's ADHD, autism, or both? The two overlap and often co-occur. See CareCompare's guide on ADHD vs autism, and on the PDA (demand-avoidant) profile of autism.

Questions to Ask Before You Book

Booking blind is how families end up paying for the wrong thing. Before you commit, ask:

• Do you provide a written report suitable for school exam-accommodation applications?
• Is the assessment DSM-5 based?
• What's included in the quoted fee? Parent interview only, or also teacher questionnaires and cognitive testing?
• Will you coordinate with a GP or paediatrician for medication follow-up if it's needed?
• How long until we get the appointment, and the report afterwards?

What to Do This Week

1. 1Write down the specific patterns you and the teacher have noticed, across both home and school. The clinician will ask for exactly this.
2. 2Decide your priority: lowest cost (public route, book a polyclinic referral) or shortest wait (private clinic, book directly).
3. 3Get quotes in writing from one or two providers, and confirm what's included.
4. 4Check your ISP policy wording if you have one, for any outpatient specialist cover.