At the start of your test, your audiologist will ask simple questions to get to know you. This time is really important as hearing isn’t just about what you can hear, but how hearing affects your everyday life

• We’ll talk about your general medical history
• Any hearing concerns you have noticed
• When and where you struggle to hear most
• Your lifestyle, work, and social environments

Next, we’ll gently look inside your ears using a small device called an otoscope. It’s quick and comfortable and helps us check it’s ok for us to keep going with the hearing test.


The otoscope checks for:

• Earwax build-up
• Signs of infection or irritation
• Any physical issues that may affect hearing

Ok, next you’ll wear headphones and listen to a series of quiet tones at different pitches and volumes. Each time you hear a sound, you’ll tell us your response. This test measures the quietest sounds you can hear across a range of frequencies, helping us understand:

• Whether you have hearing loss
• The degree of hearing loss
• Which pitches are affected

Hearing’s not just about tones, it is about understanding speech. This helps us understand why talking may feel tiring or unclear, especially in busy environments such as restaurants, family gatherings, or meetings. It can help to bring a friend or family member to your appointment to have a familiar voice for this part of your hearing assessment, but it’s not crucial.

Once the test is complete, your audiologist will talk through your results with you:

• Explaining your audiogram in a clear, easy-to-understand way
• The type and degree of any hearing loss
• How this may be affecting your daily life

If you don’t have hearing loss – great news. But if we do find something, we’ll talk through next steps and give you advice on hearing aid options or ear wax removal. But there’s no obligation – everything is just advice to find something that feels right for you.