Help with potential Dyslexia that school won't diagnose

So I have always had problems reading and writing- not in the sense of I can't come up with nice essays, but I always misread and misunderstand text and am generally really slow to read: Nearly all of the marks I lose in exams are due to not understanding what the questions say or wants me to do, when in fact I could happily give a lecture on most of these topics indefinitely. I confronted my school about it, but they instantly said my case is not worth it as I am not underachieving e.g. have an offer from King's College Cambridge for Maths. I feel really let down by this as I spend about 90% of every exam trying to read the questions and very little actually doing, and it's clear my grades are proportional to the amount of text/writing. I'm finding it really frustrating as most of my family has known issues related to dyslexia, autism etc. and it's as though the school doesn't care if I achieve my best or not. If anyone has any advice/ anything I should say to my school it would be greatly appreciated

I would say that unfortunately at that age getting a private diagnosis would be so much easier. Getting a local authority ed psych could take months I m afraid so it might be that they do believe you but they just can't pay for it for you or don't want to as you be kept you head above water for so long and you have to be really behind for them to help especially if you re leaving that school in a few months.
If you can afford it before or when you get to uni then from personal experience it's worth the money to pay for an assessment yourself.

I would say that unfortunately at that age getting a private diagnosis would be so much easier. Getting a local authority ed psych could take months I m afraid so it might be that they do believe you but they just can't pay for it for you or don't want to as you be kept you head above water for so long and you have to be really behind for them to help especially if you re leaving that school in a few months.
If you can afford it before or when you get to uni then from personal experience it's worth the money to pay for an assessment yourself.

Thanks for the reply. But yeah I'm afraid economic factors may be the case, especially as my school is in the 2nd worst funded area in England, but you'd think a school could try and help in some way especially after spending a couple of thousand on leather sofas for no reason. Could you please tell me more about how I can get an external assessment? I'd be more than happy pay it myself if that's possible.

Maybe the sofas are on a hire purchase Either you wait till you get to university and see the student support services who should b able to arrange an assessment for you at possibly a discounted price or give dyslexia action or BDA a call and they should have a list of educational psychologists/assessors in your area who you can contact

Yeh this ^^ It is also worth getting assessed as you can use the diagnosis to then claim disabled students allowance (DSA) at university.

Thanks very much, it's good to know that I'm not the only one out there But yeah my schools run by lunatics currently. I haven't even had a biology teacher this year as my usual one is ill and hasn't been replaced. Sort of wish it was next year already

Thanks for the reply. But yeah I'm afraid economic factors may be the case, especially as my school is in the 2nd worst funded area in England, but you'd think a school could try and help in some way especially after spending a couple of thousand on leather sofas for no reason. Could you please tell me more about how I can get an external assessment? I'd be more than happy pay it myself if that's possible.