SummaryThis study looked at two groups of children each consisting of nineteen four‐year‐olds, one group who were referred for speech therapy and a control group. Their performances were compared on a range of commonly used clinical tests.A large measure of correspondence was found among the tests and within each of the two groups. A degree of discrimination ‐ of value to the clinician ‐ was found between the two groups of children. An argument is developed for the intelligent use of tests supported by qualitative a