Time series of children looked after data - 1994 to 2025
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Data set details
- Theme
- Children's social care
- Publication
- Children looked after in England including adoptions
- API data set ID
- 019a9c62-aca8-772e-b92b-8678622ec297
How do I use this ID? - Release
- Reporting year 2025
- Release type
- Number of rows
- 192
- Geographic levels
- National
- Indicators
- Number
- Filters
- Population type
- Time period
- 1994 to 2025
Data set preview
| time_period | time_identifier | geographic_level | country_code | country_name | population_type | children_count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children ceasing to be looked after during the year | 34450 |
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children looked after on 31 March | 81770 |
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children looked after on 31 March excluding unaccompanied asylum-seeking children | 75240 |
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children looked after on 31 March who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children | 6540 |
| 2025 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | Children looked after who were adopted during the year | 3040 |
Variables in this data set
| Variable name | Variable description |
|---|---|
| children_count | Number |
| population_type | Population type - Select the population measure you require |
Footnotes
- Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements.
- Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the LA during year has been counted. The number of CLA starting will include a small amount of double counting of children and young people whose care whose care transfers between LAs. These children will be counted as starting a period of care once within each LA responsible for their care during the reporting year. Nationally, for non-UASC, this has been broadly 200 children in recent years. UASC are more likely to have responsibility for their care move between LAs, due to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), and as the number of UASC increase the number transferring between LAs (and so the number being double counted) will increase. See the methodology document for further information.
- Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the LA during the year has been counted. The care of a small number of children each year is transferred between LAs, in national figures these children will be counted as ceasing once within each LA. For more information see the methodology document.
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API data set details
- API data set name
- Time series of children looked after data - 1994 to 2025
- API data set ID
- 019a9c62-aca8-772e-b92b-8678622ec297
- API data set version
- 1.0
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Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Time series of children looked after data - 1994 to 2025 statistics and data:
Looked-after children statistics team
Email: cla.stats@education.gov.ukContact name: Justin Ushie