Concierge audiology · London
Auditory processing tests, assessing how the brain interprets sound when hearing thresholds are normal.
Auditory processing disorder (APD) is difficulty understanding speech despite normal hearing thresholds. A structured battery of tests assesses temporal processing, dichotic listening, auditory closure and figure-ground listening — leading to a tailored management plan.
Reviewed by Pulse Atlas Editorial Board, · 7 min read · Next review 2027-07-30
Why patients choose us
- 01
The right hands
We route you to a specialist audiologist with a dedicated auditory processing battery — the person testing you is the one interpreting the results.
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A structured battery
Not one test — a coordinated battery covering temporal, dichotic, closure and figure-ground listening, with a plan you can act on.
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Independent, and free
We are paid by no clinic, so the recommendation is impartial and costs you nothing.
Key facts
What the auditory processing battery is, in six lines.
The clinical shape of the test, before we get into the detail — who it is for, what it covers, and what it does not.
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What it is
A structured test battery for central auditory processing when hearing thresholds are normal.
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What it assesses
Temporal processing, dichotic listening, auditory closure and figure-ground listening.
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Prerequisite
Normal peripheral hearing is required before the battery is interpretable.
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Who it is for
Children over 7 years old and adults presenting with listening difficulty.
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Complements
Sits alongside audiology, speech and language therapy and educational psychology.
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No single answer
There is no single gold-standard test — a battery approach is required.
The problem
Normal hearing, but listening still feels hard.
Passing a hearing test doesn’t rule out a listening difficulty. When the ear is intact but speech-in-noise is a struggle, the question is central — and the answer needs a battery.
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Child struggling at school?
We arrange the battery alongside SLT and educational psychology, with a plan the school can use.
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Adult struggling in meetings?
We assess and coordinate workplace adjustments, from FM systems to environmental changes.
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Post-concussion listening change?
We assess the auditory picture and, if needed, route to neurology first.
The journey
From enquiry to plan — what happens, in order.
One coordinated visit — audiology baseline, then the APD battery — with the plan following in the report.
Phase 1 · Before the assessment
Concierge, off-stage for you
Phase 2 · On the day
~90–120 minutes at the clinic
Phase 3 · After
Concierge, back on
- 01
Before
You tell us what’s going on
A short, confidential form. Listening difficulties, school or workplace impact, prior audiology, referral if you have one.
- 02
Before
We come back with a recommendation
Within one working day: whether the APD battery is the right route, which clinic, indicative price. If it isn’t the right step, we say so.
- 03
Before
We arrange the appointment
Coordinated audiology plus APD battery — often bundled into a single visit, including Saturdays where offered.
- 04
On the day
Full audiological baseline
Pure-tone audiometry and tympanometry first — the battery is only interpretable on a normal peripheral hearing baseline.
- 05
On the day
The APD battery itself
Speech-in-noise, dichotic listening, temporal-processing and auditory-closure tests — typically 90–120 minutes.
- 06
On the day
Straight home
No recovery time. Return to school, work or clinic as normal.
- 07
After
Report and multi-disciplinary plan
A written report with a tailored management plan — environmental, technological and therapeutic — typically within 5–7 working days.
Typical end-to-end: 7–14 days. Bundled visit: single day.
The battery
The seven pieces of an APD assessment.
There is no single test — a coordinated battery is required. Every step below feeds the interpretation of the next.
- 01 Step 1
Full audiological baseline
Pure-tone audiometry and tympanometry to confirm normal peripheral hearing before any central battery.
- 02 Step 2
Speech-in-noise testing
Word or sentence recognition in competing background noise — the presenting complaint of many APD referrals.
- 03 Step 3
Dichotic listening tests
Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) and competing sentences — assessing binaural integration.
- 04 Step 4
Temporal-processing tests
Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) and frequency / duration pattern tests — assessing the timing of auditory processing.
- 05 Step 5
Auditory-closure tests
Filtered or time-compressed speech — the brain’s ability to fill in missing acoustic information.
- 06 Step 6
Cortical evoked responses
Selective use of cortical auditory evoked potentials where objective corroboration is needed.
- 07 Step 7
Multi-disciplinary review
Findings interpreted alongside speech and language therapy, educational psychology and, where relevant, ENT.
What it shows
The specific deficits the battery is designed to find.
Each domain answers a specific listening question — and the pattern of deficits, not any single number, is the diagnosis.
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Temporal processing deficit
Difficulty resolving brief acoustic events in time — the timing dimension of listening.
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Binaural integration deficit
Difficulty combining information arriving simultaneously at the two ears.
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Auditory-closure deficit
Difficulty filling in the acoustic gaps when speech is degraded or filtered.
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Figure-ground listening difficulty
Difficulty selecting one voice from a background of competing sound.
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Speech-in-noise deficit
The most common presenting complaint — struggling to follow conversation in noise.
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Auditory attention deficit
Difficulty sustaining or dividing attention across auditory streams.
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Normal peripheral hearing
A core prerequisite — the battery is only interpretable when standard audiometry is normal.
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Red flag: sudden onset in adulthood — investigate central nervous system pathology
A new adult-onset picture warrants neurological work-up before an APD label.
Assessment types
Not every APD assessment looks the same.
What each option on your referral actually covers, and who each version is for.
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Full paediatric APD battery
The structured battery for children over 7, coordinated with school and family.
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Adult APD battery
The adult-focused battery, coordinated with workplace assessment where relevant.
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Post-concussion APD assessment
Targeted battery after head injury, when listening difficulty has emerged.
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Post-stroke APD assessment
Targeted battery after cerebrovascular event, coordinated with neuro-rehab.
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APD + speech and language review
Battery plus a same-visit SLT opinion, with a joint plan you can act on.
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APD + educational psychology input
Battery plus coordinated educational psychology assessment for school-age children.
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Cortical evoked response add-on
Objective cortical response testing where behavioural findings need corroboration.
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APD follow-up and re-assessment
Re-testing after auditory training or environmental changes.
Our vetted London network
A small panel of clinics, we picked them.
Partners across central, north, west and south London. Not listed publicly — introductions are made privately, once we understand the case.
Selection criteria
How we choose every clinic in our network.
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Specialist audiologists with a dedicated APD battery
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BSA-aligned test selection and interpretation
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Written report with a tailored management plan
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Onward SLT, ENT, educational psychology or neurology pathway where indicated
Next steps
The plan after the battery.
A diagnosis is only useful if there is a plan attached to it — and APD management is a coordinated package of environmental, technological and therapeutic steps.
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Environmental modifications
Classroom or workplace changes — seating, acoustics, visual support — often the highest-yield first step.
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Remote-microphone / FM system
A wearable microphone worn by the teacher or speaker, streamed directly to the listener — a proven intervention.
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Auditory-training programmes
Structured listening exercises, computer-based or clinician-led, targeting the specific deficit.
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Speech and language therapy
Language and phonological support, often the highest-yield intervention in children.
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Educational psychology input
Educational plan, exam access arrangements and school liaison where indicated.
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Occupational therapy
For co-occurring sensory-integration or attention difficulties.
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Family and school liaison
Clear communication with those around the child or adult — outcomes hinge on it.
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Follow-up audiology
Serial hearing checks — peripheral hearing must remain normal for the diagnosis to hold.
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Not a substitute for medical work-up
An adult-onset picture warrants neurological assessment before an APD label.
Red flags
When APD is not the whole story.
These presentations warrant something more, or something else, before or alongside the battery.
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Adult-onset APD
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Post-concussion APD
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Post-stroke APD
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Multiple sclerosis-related APD
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Auditory neuropathy spectrum
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Comorbid ADHD or language disorder
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Educational failure without an APD workup
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Missed peripheral hearing loss
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Family isolation and mental-health impact
Reading your report
An APD report can look intimidating. It isn’t.
Whatever the finding, the report keeps to the same four parts.
A quiet reminder
The report is written for your doctor and your school or workplace — and that’s normal.
If you would like us to talk you through it before your follow-up, just ask.
- 01 Header
Presenting complaint and prior assessments
Your details, the listening complaint, and the audiology, SLT or educational input that came before.
- 02 Technique
Test battery administered
Which tests were used — audiometry, speech-in-noise, dichotic, temporal, closure — and under what conditions.
- 03 Findings
Domain-by-domain results
Domain-by-domain scoring against age-normative data, with the specific deficit pattern identified.
- 04 Impression
The plan: read this first
Normal or diagnosis, the domains affected, and the tailored management plan — read this first.
Recognised by major UK insurers
Cover depends on your policy and clinic; we confirm with your insurer before booking.
Frequently asked
Everything we get asked about auditory processing tests.
Quick answers on who the battery is for, why normal hearing is a prerequisite, and what comes after the diagnosis.
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What are auditory processing tests?
A structured battery of tests that assesses how the brain interprets sound when peripheral hearing thresholds are normal. It covers temporal processing, dichotic listening, auditory closure and figure-ground listening — the ingredients of everyday listening.
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Who is APD testing suitable for?
Children over the age of 7 and adults presenting with listening difficulty — struggling to follow speech in noise, mishearing, or difficulty following classroom or meeting conversation — despite normal audiometry.
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Do I need normal hearing to be tested?
Yes. A full audiological baseline is a prerequisite — the APD battery is only interpretable when pure-tone audiometry and tympanometry are normal. That is why audiology is always done first.
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Is there a single gold-standard APD test?
No. There is no single test — a coordinated battery is required, and the diagnosis rests on a pattern of results across domains, interpreted by a specialist audiologist.
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What treatment options are available for APD?
A tailored plan: environmental modifications (classroom or workplace), a remote-microphone / FM system, auditory-training programmes, speech and language therapy, educational psychology input, and family and school liaison.
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When should I be worried about adult-onset APD?
Sudden or new adult-onset listening difficulty warrants investigation of central nervous system pathology — post-concussion, post-stroke, multiple sclerosis or auditory neuropathy — before an APD label is applied.
Sources
- British Society of Audiology. Position statement and practice guidance — auditory processing disorder.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Central auditory processing disorders.
- British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists.
- NHS. Auditory processing disorder — patient information.
Last reviewed 2026-07-30. Next review 2027-07-30.
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In practice, in London
The London pathway for auditory processing tests
With auditory processing tests, the London question is usually about report turnaround and the radiologist reading it — not whether the scan is available. The NHS route for auditory processing tests is thorough, but the queue is real. Most patients we speak with have been told to expect anywhere from a handful of weeks to several months, depending on their local trust and how the referral is graded. Going private in London usually collapses that window to a matter of days — often the same week if the diary allows. It isn’t about jumping a queue so much as buying time back while you still have the flexibility to plan around it.
Once you’re in the private system for auditory processing tests, the pace picks up noticeably. Consultant slots run to time, imaging is usually available in the same building or a short walk away, and the report comes back typed and detailed. It’s the coordination that tends to feel different — one person on the other end of the phone, not a switchboard. For auditory processing tests specifically, the difference between a routine report and a sub-speciality read is where private care earns its keep.
Where a good concierge earns its keep is in the matching. There are dozens of consultants in London who see auditory processing tests — but not all of them are the right fit for every case. We narrow it down based on subspecialty, insurer coverage, the specific question being asked, and whether continuity into treatment matters. The right first appointment saves you from repeating yourself later.