DS in Year 9 not focusing in lessons

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I have a DS who is 14 and in year 9. Last night was parents evening. Almost every teacher said that he loses concentration and focus in class, and sometimes this leads to behaving disruptively. Most teachers have had to move him to front of class to stop him drifting off and to hold his attention. He does get back to him work when pulled up on it/reminded and behaves appropriately for the rest of the lesson.
Academically, he is doing well in the core subjects like science, maths, english etcm but falling behind it subjects he doesnt' like, French, RE, comp science, etc. He is generally considered to be pretty able and top set in maths in a grammar school.
This has been an ongoing issue for a while now and I'm starting to wonder, alongside his behavious at home, whether there is an underlying issue.
He is disorganised, forgetful, acts irrationally, forgets to feed himself if left alone and gets so hungry he can't think straight and gets hangry, does things in the wrong order etc
He is able to concentrate when doing things he likes, for example, he can focus on reading for ages before bed and he will read challenging books, will play highly complex board games and win every time, so it's not like he doesn't know how to focus.
But his general behaviour at home is causing us a lot of stress and the behaviour at school is also concerning.
If he does intense exercise he is much better behaved generally. He goes running once or twice a week and playes cricket a couple of times a week, and there is an obvious difference in behaviour after exercise.

Is there a glaringly obvious issue here that needs addressing? If it's just general teen behaviour, what can we do to help him focus more in class?
Any advice would be great!

Are you thinking ADHD possibly? Has he always been like this in school or is it a recent thing? Could he be bored if he is very bright?

Is he sufficiently stretched in lessons?
DS2 (year 5) is prone to chatting and wandering around and when I ask him he says he is bored.

Thanks for your reply.
Yes I'm thinking ADHD. He's always been kind of like this. Low level disruption in class. He was top of the class academically in primary school, so he may have been bored then, but then everyone is pretty able at his current school, so I don't think that's a reason anymore.
If it's ADHD, what can we do to help him?

He is being stretched, they work them hard!

For example, his history teacher said that he is not making enough notes during lesson, so don't have a lot of material to revise with for assessments, so as a result hasn't done well recently.

Contact the school's SENCO and/ or his form tutor for more information or support. They will be able to help with strategies to support.

Yes, I think I will contact the SENCO at school. I've looked up ADHD symptoms, and he does have a lot of them, even the excessive talking, fidgeting etc that we thought were just him being him.

Sounds a LOT like inattentive adhd. Medication has been an absolute game changer for this for my sons.

Does have hallmarks of adhd but you'd need him testing fully to check he's not just been lazy / bored with stuff he doesn't like. The home stuff is adhd like

I wondered how this worked out? Also what is the testing process for adhd ?

I’m an expert in this

he sounds very typical. Work with school to establish a predictable and enforced sanction for any titting about at school.

If he's very bright / gifted in combination with ADHD it can present differently
Firstly, the brighter they are, the farther students get in their school career before their ability ceases to compensate for ADHD, so late diagnosis is common.
Secondly if he's very bright, then being bored with the level of work or slow pace can exacerbate the disengagement stemming from the ADHD.
It would be worth reading about twice-exceptionality (called DME / dual & multiple exceptionality in the UK).
You really need a full assessment. A clinical assessment (by clinical psychologist / psychiatrist) may get to the bottom of things more than an educational psychologist. If ADHD is confirmed, diagnosis and treatment can be game-changing.

Well he would say that wouldn’t he? It’s got to be someone else’s fault that he’s messing around, can’t possible be his.

hayliebells the same child can sit for 2.5hrs of online group tutoring for 11+ on a weekend because the lesson is 'fun' and 'interesting'. He doesn't walk around in all lessons only some.. you draw your own conclusions..

The tests used in education (IQ and attainment) aren't sufficiently specific but can be suggestive (e.g. spiky profiles with weaknesses in working memory or processing speed).
There are more specific tests, e.g. the Conners and Vanderbilt scales, which are questionnaire-based behaviour rating scales which triangulate information from parents, school and (if old enough) child. There are also computer-based tests in which the subject is given a series of tasks to do (some of which are deliberately boring) and the computer tracks response times and possibly eye movements. But none of these are required.
Ultimately, diagnosis is a subjective clinical decision made after clinical interview/taking a history and reviewing all available evidence. It's made by a senior clinician - often a consultant psychiatrist, though a psychologist may also be involved in testing / gathering evidence.
If a diagnosis is made it would be a psychiatrist or other medical doctor who will prescribe any required medication (GPs can do it providing its regularly reviewed by a psychiatrist).

Oh don’t worry, I have. You are doing your child a massive disservice by not making them take responsibility for their behaviour. There will always be subjects they find boring, and teachers they don’t like, that’s life they need to deal with it and behave for all. Do not make excuses for them, it’s a road to increasingly worse behaviour, and when they get to GCSE’s they’ll really come unstuck if you’re blaming the teachers/school rather than sanctioning appropriately at home. I’ve seen it so many times, I could write a book. It always ends up the same way, with a lot of complaints from the parents, but ultimately no change and poorer outcomes for the child.

Not to suggest that there isn’t some underlying SEN in OP’s case, it sounds like there may well be, and that needs assessing and reasonable adjustments made. But honestly, the parents who blame everyone else for their children’s behaviour are just the worst. I wish they could recognise just how damaging that is for the child.

Apart from following some good advice here I would make sure he is sleeping and eating well and getting outside activity.

Son's body is growing rapidly.
He needs to get to sleep routinely early enough and eat five or six nutrient rich meals and snacks at sensible intervals with ample water.
Outdoor access to green space, sunlight and physical exercise every day will be positive for mood, sleep, eye sight (a rest from staring at screens and books), fitness and energy levels.
Giving your teenager times to chat, discuss, question and express opinions and also times to laugh, play and relax are important when they are developing their adult selves.

He sounds like my son who has just been diagnosed with inattentive adhd.

My son is ridiculously messy, very unorganised, will forget what he is doing two seconds after asking him to do it, would walk straight in front of a car rather than stop and check if it was clear.
He interrupts constantly and sometimes will say inappropriate things without realising. He loses everything.

He isn't disruptive in class as such but can talk a little more than maybe he should, they allow him to have regular moment breaks, he is chosen to give out books, handouts etc in class so he isn't sitting still for too long, he is allowed figit toys in class too.

There are things that can be put in place at school to help him so worth speaking to them and maybe look at getting him
Assessed.

And for what's it worth, my son can sit perfectly well for periods of time, particularly when it's something he is very interested in. Being able to do this does not mean they don't have adhd.

hard to know the answer to this but you should definitely dig deeper. People jump to SEN conclusion very quickly but a lot of things going on in his life could cause this. How is your marriage? Are there any other problems in the family? Has he got good friends and social life? In one of my DC's cases teachers mentioning inattention was actually a red flag for bullying which we only found out about 3 months' later. I would pay careful attention to his social life, social media, motivation, relationships with peers and teachers, relationships within the family.