EFSim: Turning Early Insight into Lifelong Support

EFSim is an evidence-based digital tool designed to assess a child’s executive functioning skills—the cognitive abilities that enable attention, memory, planning, and self-regulation. These skills underpin success in school and daily life, yet difficulties often go unnoticed until they lead to significant academic and emotional challenges.

Unlike traditional approaches focused solely on ADHD diagnosis, EFSim takes a needs-based approach. Rather than providing a simple yes/no outcome, EFSim maps out a child’s executive functioning profile, highlighting both strengths and areas for support.

The tool delivers assessment through an engaging, game-based experience that children enjoy. After completion, EFSim generates an automatic, comprehensive report that compares the child’s performance to neurotypical ranges using validated metrics. This report provides parents, teachers, and clinicians with clear, actionable insights—helping them prioritise the right interventions early.

EFSim’s methodology has been developed in collaboration with leading researchers and has already demonstrated impact at scale. In Finland, pilots across 100 schools and 10,000 children reduced ADHD-related waiting lists by 43%. Building on that success, EFSim is now being piloted across the West Yorkshire ICB, and is being used in nonprofits and private clinics across the UK where it is helping clinical services identify executive functioning challenges earlier, improve access to care, and reduce bottlenecks in diagnostic pathways.

By shifting the conversation from diagnosis to understanding, EFSim empowers families, educators, and healthcare professionals to act before small struggles escalate into major problems. This approach supports both children who meet ADHD criteria and those in the “grey area” who may never receive a diagnosis but still need tailored strategies to succeed.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Scientifically validated and tested across multiple international pilots.
• Game-based experience that engages children while collecting reliable data.
• Comprehensive reporting on attention, memory, planning, and self-regulation.
• Actionable insights for parents, schools, and clinicians to guide early intervention.
   

Early support changes lives. EFSim makes it possible—by providing the insight needed to ensure every child has the chance to thrive.