Griffiths III: Griffiths Scales of Child Development (3rd Edition)

Griffiths III is the product of a thorough re-standardisation of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS) – described as the ‘gold standard’ in child development testing. It is a comprehensive, child-friendly developmental measure for continuous use from birth to 6 years (72 months). The standardisation was conducted by the Association for Research in Infant and Child Development (ARICD) and completed in 2015 using a representative sample from the UK and Ireland.

What is Griffiths III?

Griffiths III provides an overall measure of a child’s development, as well as an individual profile of strengths and needs across five areas:

• Foundations of Learning – assesses critical aspects of learning during the early childhood years.
• Language and Communication – measures overall language development, including expressive language, receptive language and use of language to communicate socially with others.
• Eye and Hand Coordination – considers fine motor skills, manual dexterity and visual perception skills.
• Personal–Social–Emotional – measures constructs relating to the child’s developing sense of self and growing independence, interactions with others, plus many aspects of emotional development.
• Gross Motor – assesses postural control, balance and gross body coordination, among other abilities.

What’s new to Griffiths III?

Griffiths III has taken the best of the previous editions and built upon it to become a substantially new and improved kit. More than 80% of Griffiths III has been redesigned to make a modern assessment in line with the latest developmental, paediatric, psychological and neurological research. Clinician feedback has also been taken into account, and the administration sequence has been streamlined to be practical for users. All equipment can be easily cleaned, is child-friendly has been designed to keep small children engaged and at ease. More in-depth information on Griffiths III can be found in this article. You can also download our Griffiths III flyer here.

How can I start using Griffiths III?

Read our quick summary below or visit the Griffiths III training page for more detailed information, including dates of training courses held at Hogrefe House in Oxford.

Registered users of the previous editions - There is no ‘upgrade kit’ and registered users of the previous Griffiths Scales need only undergo a free conversion course via an online e-learning package. Please email courses@aricd.ac.uk to request access. There is also a face-to-face training course option for conversion training, information for which you can find here on the ARICD website (note that these courses do not replace the need to take the e-learning course).

New users of the Griffiths - New user training is in two stages. First, there is an e-module to complete, information for which can be found here. This is then followed by a new condensed 3 day training course - dates and locations for which can be found here on the ARICD website.  

Have a question? Take a look at our Griffiths III FAQs or sign up to our dedicated Griffiths III mailing list to receive announcements via email. 

Looking to order? Public sector customers are invited to order via Purchase Order. These can be sent to orders@hogrefe.co.uk. Alternatively, you can call us on 01865 797920, or order via our website. Note that customers looking to order on our website must be registered Griffiths users. Replacement kit parts are available to order - please see components list below or contact orders@hogrefe.co.uk to purchase individual pieces of equipment, such as replacement Quiet Book page parts.

For customers in territories served by a distributor, we request that you please refer any queries to the distributor: