Free Online Autism Test

Adults and older teenagers — the AQ was written for people aged 16 and over — who recognise something of themselves in descriptions of autism and want a structured way to check whether it is worth exploring. If you are a parent wondering about a younger child, our child autism assessment page is the better starting point.

The Autism Spectrum Quotient, published by Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the Cambridge Autism Research Centre in 2001. It is fifty statements you agree or disagree with, covering five areas: social skill, attention switching, attention to detail, communication and imagination. It is one of the most widely used autism screening questionnaires in adults.

Each item scores 1 when your answer falls on the autistic-traits side, and 0 when it does not — so the range is 0 to 50. How strongly you agreed does not change the score: "definitely" and "slightly" count the same, and the four-point scale exists only to stop you sitting on the fence. You also get a breakdown across the five subscales, which often says more than the total on its own.

In the original study, 32 was the point that separated the groups most clearly: about four in five autistic adults scored 32 or above, against roughly one in fifty of the comparison group. Later clinical work suggested 26 is a more useful threshold for deciding who to take forward for assessment, so we mark both on your result.

It is a good filter, not a verdict. A high score does not mean you are autistic — social anxiety, ADHD and past trauma can all push it up. A low score does not rule it out either: the AQ was developed largely on men, and autistic women and non-binary people who have masked for years frequently score lower than their experience would suggest.

Not formally. NICE guidance is clear that a diagnosis of autism follows a full assessment by a suitably trained clinician or multidisciplinary team — a detailed developmental history from early childhood, direct observation, and consideration of other explanations. A questionnaire can tell you whether that assessment is worth pursuing, and nothing more. Many autistic adults do identify themselves before seeking a formal diagnosis, and that self-understanding is valid — but it is not the same thing.

Nothing automatically — the result is yours and stays in your browser. If you would like to talk it through, you can book a free, no-obligation consultation and we will help you decide whether a full autism assessment makes sense for you.