Data set from Children looked after in England including adoptions

Care leavers (now 17-21 years) - activity by ethnicity and by placement

Latest data
Published
Last updated
Care leavers, by activity (as measured on or around their birthday). Activity figures split by ethnicity, and by last placement when the young person ceased to be looked after.

Data set details

Theme
Children's social care
Publication
Children looked after in England including adoptions
Release type
Number of rows
3,600
Geographic levels
National
Indicators
  • Number
  • Percentage
Filters
  • Age of care leaver
  • Characteristic of the care leaver
  • Type of activity the care leaver is in
Time period
2021 to 2025

Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data
time_periodtime_identifiergeographic_levelcountry_codecountry_namecare_leaver_agecla_groupbreakdownactivity_typecare_leaver_countcare_leaver_percent
2025Reporting yearNationalE92000001England17 yearsEthnicity groupTotal Asian or Asian BritishEducation other than higher education1029
2025Reporting yearNationalE92000001England17 yearsEthnicity groupTotal Asian or Asian BritishHigher education i.e. studies beyond A levelcc
2025Reporting yearNationalE92000001England17 yearsEthnicity groupTotal Asian or Asian BritishIn an apprenticeshipcc
2025Reporting yearNationalE92000001England17 yearsEthnicity groupTotal Asian or Asian BritishIn training or employmentzz
2025Reporting yearNationalE92000001England17 yearsEthnicity groupTotal Asian or Asian BritishIn training or employment (excl. apprenticeship)cc

Variables in this data set

Table showing all 5 variables
Variable nameVariable description
activity_typeType of activity the care leaver is in
breakdownCharacteristic of the care leaver
care_leaver_ageAge of care leaver
care_leaver_countNumber
care_leaver_percentPercentage

Footnotes

  1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures in some tables may be suppressed, denoted by a 'c', percentages <0.5% are denoted by a 'k'. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 
  2. Local authority not in touch' excludes young people where activity information is known, as a third party provided it even though the local authority is not directly in touch with the young person.
  3. In touch, activity and accommodation information for 17-21 year old care leavers relates to contact around their birthday. Users looking for a longer time series may wish to check for the equivalent table in earlier releases of this publication. Figures for the number of care leavers who have died each year can be found in the methodology document.
  4. Around 66% of care leavers aged 18-21 years old and 61% of care leavers aged 17 years old were in their final placement for at least 6 months (2025 data). Users of this information on last placement should take this into consideration when drawing conclusions from this data.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Care leavers (now 17-21 years) - activity by ethnicity and by placement statistics and data:

Looked-after children statistics team

Email: cla.stats@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Justin Ushie