This release provides information on children looked after (CLA) in England, including numbers of CLA adopted, care leavers and CLA who were missing from their placement. Data is taken from the annual SSDA903 data collection which is collected from local authorities in England.
The latest statistics relate to the year ending 31 March 2024 and comparisons are to the year ending 31 March 2023 unless otherwise stated. Each year local authorities can revise previous years' data. The standard period for data in this release is for the year ending 31 March 2020 to the year ending 31 March 2024.
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Chart used in the text, showing the percentage of SDQ scores which are a cause for concern, by male / female, 2024
In 2024, the number of children looked after (CLA) by local authorities in England was 83,630, similar to last year, following a steady rise since 2008. This is a rate of 70 CLA per 10,000 children.
Number of children looked after on 31 March, 2020 to 2024, England
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of children looked after | 80,000 | 80,780 | 82,090 | 83,760 | 83,630 |
| Annual change | +780 | +1,310 | +1,680 | -130 | |
| Annual percentage change | +1% | +2% | +2% | < -0.5% |
Source: SSDA903
Numbers and rates per 10,000 children vary widely across local authorities, for example Stoke-on-Trent has the highest rate at 191 CLA per 10,000 children and Richmond-upon-Thames has the lowest at 25 CLA per 10,000 children.
Characteristics of CLA are broadly similar to last year. Many of the changes seen in recent years have been as a result of the increase in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) as UASC are a distinct cohort with specific characteristics. However the numbers of UASC this year are very similar to those last year.
Males are slightly over-represented in the CLA population (57%) compared to the overall child population (51%) - as shown in the latest ONS mid-year population estimates (opens in a new tab). Some of this is due to UASC, however males are still slightly over-represented for non-UASC CLA (53%).
Children from Mixed ethnic groups were over-represented and children from Asian ethnic groups were under- represented (opens in a new tab) in the numbers of CLA compared to the overall child population. Children of White ethnicity account for 71% of CLA, 11% were Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups, 7% Black, African, Caribbean or Black British, 5% were Asian or Asian British, 5% other ethnicities, and ethnicity was not known or not yet recorded for 1%.
CLA are primarily from an older demographic. Over the last five years, whilst the number of CLA has increased, the proportion of CLA in most age groups have been relatively stable, the exception is those aged 16+ years which have been gradually increasing.
When a child is assessed by children's services their primary need is recorded. This list is hierarchical and where more than one need is identified then the need ‘highest’ up the list is reported.
The proportion of CLA reported within each primary need has been broadly stable over the last five years. The largest increase since last year has been in ‘Abuse of neglect’ which has risen by 470 children, and the largest decrease has been in ‘Family dysfunction’ which has fallen by 380 children.
Reasons recorded for being looked after include the following:
- as a result of or because they were at risk of abuse or neglect
- primarily due to living in a family where the parenting capacity is chronically inadequate (family dysfunction)
- due to there being no parents available to provide for the child (absent parenting)
- due to living in a family that is going through a temporary crisis that diminishes the parental capacity to adequately meet some of the children’s needs (family being in acute stress)
- due to the child’s or parent’s disability or illness
- due to low income or socially unacceptable behaviour
Information is collected on the legal status underlying being 'looked-after' , which helps to describe why the child is being looked after. These include:
- a care order - a court order placing a child in the care or supervision of a local authority
- a voluntary agreement - this allows the local authority to provide accommodation for a child where there's parental consent, or when no-one with parental responsibility is in place
- a placement order - a court order allowing a local authority to place a child for adoption
- detained for child protection reasons
- detained under youth justice legal statuses
In 2024, most CLA were looked after under a care order (75% down from 76%); 19% of CLA were looked after under voluntary agreement (same as last year).
CLA under a placement order increased slightly, up 4% (160 children), to 4,690 children.
It became illegal for young people to be placed in former semi-independent and independent living placements from 28 October 2023. Between 28 April 2023 and 27 October 2023 former semi-independent and independent living placement providers were required to submit a completed application to Ofsted to continue to operate as a supported accommodation provider beyond that date. Young people who were placed at providers who are not registered with Ofsted or had not submitted a completed application by the deadline are reported within the 'Other' category in the 2024 data.
There were some difficulties in reporting the transition to supported accommodation in the data collection in 2024, users should be cautious when interpreting and drawing conclusions from the figures. For further information please see the methodology document that accompanies this release.
The majority of CLA were placed in foster placements, where an approved carer looks after the child. CLA in foster placements have decreased slightly to 56,390 (down 260 children), and the proportion of CLA in foster placements was 67% (down slightly from 68%). However, foster placements with a relative or friend increased to 13,660 (up 750 children) to 24% of all foster placements - up slightly from 23% last year and from 20% in 2020.
Children's homes (including secure children's homes) accommodated 8,640 CLA (up 650 children), which is 10% of CLA. Supported accommodation providers accommodated 6,250 children (7% of CLA).
The number of CLA placed for adoption decreased to 1,910 (down 310 children) - 2% of CLA. Placed for adoption means the child has gone to live with prospective adopters who will adopt them. A child may be placed for adoption with the formal consent of the child’s parents/guardian or with a placement order from a court and may be placed for adoption with their current foster carer or with a stranger or relative who is an approved adopter.
Children placed in ‘Other placements’ increased to 3,790 (up by 2,650 children) which was 5% of all CLA. The large increase this year is due to the requirement for former semi-independent and independent living providers to register as a supported accommodation provider with Ofsted. Placements with providers that did not apply before 28 October 2023 have been reported within the ‘Other’ placement group this year.
Local authorities have a general duty to provide accommodation that is within the local authorities' area, that meets the needs of the child and allows the child to live near their home.
The proportion of placements inside the council boundary was 55%, down from 56% last year. The proportion of placements outside the council boundary was 45%.
| Location | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All placements | 80,000 | 80,780 | 82,090 | 83,760 | 83,630 |
| Inside the LA boundary | 46,810 | 46,710 | 46,720 | 47,090 | 46,110 |
| Percentage | 59% | 58% | 57% | 56% | 55% |
| Outside the LA boundary | 33,190 | 34,070 | 35,370 | 36,680 | 37,520 |
| Percentage | 41% | 42% | 43% | 44% | 45% |
The majority of CLA were still placed within 20 miles of home:
As might be expected, location of placement varies by type of placement:
Further information on CLA on 31 March can be found in the ‘A’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
UASC are children, who have applied for asylum in their own right and are separated from both parents and/or any other responsible adult. Local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation for these children.
There were 7,380 UASC on 31 March 2024, similar to last year (down very slightly by 30 children). There was a drop in the number of UASC during the pandemic in 2021, however numbers have increased steadily since then to a peak of 7,410 last year.
UASC are a distinct group of CLA and currently represent around 9% of all CLA, up from 6% in 2020.
Most UASC are male - 96% - up from 90% in 2020. UASC are also usually older - only 11% were aged under 16 years (compared to 73% of all CLA).
88% of UASC have a primary need of 'Absent parenting' - a further 7% were in need due to abuse or neglect and 4% due to the family being in acute stress.
UASC tend to present themselves at points of entry into the country. Since February 2022 there has been a mandated national transfer scheme (opens in a new tab) in place to enable the safe transfer of unaccompanied children between local authorities across the country to help ensure that unaccompanied children have access to services and support they need. Prior to this, the scheme was voluntary. Kent (498 young people), Hampshire (305) and Birmingham (190) looked after the largest number of UASC on 31 March 2024.
40% of UASC are from ‘Other ethnic groups’ (this includes some people from the Middle East, North Africa and the Far East - more detail on the specific ethnicities within this group can be found in the Appendix 4 of the CLA data collection guide (opens in a new tab)). 26% were of Black or Black British ethnicity, 25% of Asian or Asian British, 5% White and 2% Mixed ethnicity.
The placements for UASC tend to reflect the fact that they are older:
The number of CLA starting during the year is very similar to last year, at 33,050.
Counts of the number of children starting to be looked after during the year (CLA starting) relate to the first time the child started to be looked after in each LA during the year. They will include a small amount of double counting of children and young people whose care was transferred from another LA - these children will be counted as starting a period of care once within each LA that was responsible for their care during the reporting year.
As the number of UASC has increased, the double counting has increased, as this group of children and young people can have their care transferred to another LA under the National Transfer Scheme (opens in a new tab). In 2020 140 UASC ceased to be looked after due to their care being transferred to another LA - by 2024 this had increased to 1,970. Adjusting for this, we estimate the true proportion of CLA starting during the year who were UASC was 17% in 2024, 19% in 2023 and up from 11% in 2020.
| Population count | 2020 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported CLA starting during the year | 31,010 | 33,090 | 33,050 |
| Of whom were non-UASC | 27,530 | 25,880 | 25,780 |
| Of whom were UASC | 3,490 | 7,210 | 7,270 |
| CLA ceasing during the year, who were UASC, transferring to another LA (and so will be potentially double counted as a start) | 140 | 1,030 | 1,970 |
| Adjusted number of UASC starting during the year | 3,350 | 6,180 | 5,300 |
| Adjusted number of CLA starting (excluding UASC transferring) | 30,870 | 32,060 | 31,090 |
| Estimated over count of CLA starting who were UASC | 4% | 17% | 37% |
57% of CLA starting were initially looked after under a voluntary agreement under S20 of the Children Act 1989, and 31% were initially looked after under a care order, however a child's legal status is likely to change during their period of care. 10% (3,350 children) were initially detained for child protection reasons and 2% (510 children) for youth justice reasons.
A small proportion of CLA starting during the year were known to have previously had a permanence arrangement - 600 children. These children were known to have previously been adopted (less than 0.5% of all CLA starting), been the subject of a special guardianship order (1% of all CLA starting) or been the subject of a residence order or child arrangement order (less than 0.5% of all CLA starting).
Further information on CLA starting can be found in the ‘C’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
The number of placements experienced by CLA in a one-year period has remained broadly stable over the past 5 years, with a slight increase in stability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1 in 10 children experienced high placement instability (3 or more placements) - 10% - broadly stable from 11% in 2023 and 11% in 2020 (figures based on unrounded numbers).
A lower proportion of CLA experience high placement instability when focusing on those who have been in care for 12 months or more (9%) compared to those who have been in care for less than 12 months (14%).
CLA who were initially detained for child protection reasons had the highest proportion experiencing high placement instability (26%). This was followed by CLA who were detained under youth justice legal statuses (18%). CLA whose first legal status in the year was a placement order were the least likely to experience high placement instability (6%). Other than an increase seen for CLA detained for child protection reasons, proportions are similar to those seen last year.
Placements which don't fall into the main placement categories are grouped within 'Other placements'. These tend to be placements by the courts (s38(6)) with a relative or non-assessed person, placements with other unregistered carers or unregulated placements (for example whilst awaiting availability of an alternative placement, if it's in the child's best interests or the child's choice).
CLA whose first placement in the year was ‘Other residential settings’ (including care homes or custody) experienced the highest placement instability - 23% - unchanged from last year. This was followed by those with a first placement of ‘Other placements’. High placement instability was experienced by 9% of CLA whose first placement in the year was a foster placement - unchanged from last year.
The number of placements experienced by CLA over a two-year period has been broadly stable over the past 5 years - in 2024, 23% of CLA experienced high placement instability (3 or more placements) during the previous 2 years, up from 22% in 2023 but the same as in 2020 (figures based on unrounded numbers).
Of those CLA aged under 16 on 31 March who had been looked after continuously for at least 2.5 years, 68% had lived in the same placement for at least 2 years.
Further information on placement stability can be found in the ‘P’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
Figures in this section relate to the 59,480 CLA on 31 March who had been CLA for at least 12 months in the year ending 31 March 2024 unless otherwise stated.
Definitions and explanations of the information collected can be found in the CLA data collection guide (opens in a new tab) and in the footnotes of the table below.
Information in this section on offending rates is collected for children aged 10 years or over – 41,550 children in 2024.
2% were convicted or were subject to youth cautions or youth conditional cautions during the year - the same as last year and down slightly from 3% in 2020. Older children are more likely to offend - 4% of those aged 16 or 17 years - the same as last year but down from 6% in 2020.
Males are more likely to offend than females - 3% of males were convicted or subject to youth cautions or youth conditional cautions during the year compared to 1% of females - a similar pattern to previous years.
3% of CLA were identified as having a substance misuse problem which is the same as last year and the same as in 2020. Substance misuse is equally likely in males and females.
An intervention was received for 39% of children who were identified as having a substance misuse problem, down from 40% last year and down from 45% in 2020. Interventions may include for example, advice and guidance, therapeutic support or support targeting the problems that are causing difficulties for the young person, like family contact, placement stability, school attendance or the young person's mental health.
Most CLA are up to date with their health care and immunisations:
88% of under 5s were reported as having development assessments up to date which is similar to recent years.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores - the SDQ is a behavioural screening questionnaire. Its primary purpose is to give social workers and health professionals information about a child’s wellbeing. A score of 0 to 13 is considered normal, 14 to 16 is borderline, and 17 to 40 is a cause for concern.
For CLA aged 5 to 16 years (43,540 children), an SDQ score was reported for 77% of them. This is up from 75% last year, and down from 81% reported in 2020. The average score reported was 14.7 - up from 14.4 last year and up from 14.1 reported in 2020.
Of these 43,540 children:
In 2024, 43% of males had a score which was a cause for concern compared to 39% of females.
Younger males are more likely than females to have scores which were a cause for concern; however for 15 and 16 year olds, this switches and females become more likely to have a score which is a cause for concern.
Further details on health outcomes can be found in the ‘I’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
Note: These figures are published as OFFICIAL STATISTICS. We do not recommend users make comparisons between local authorities or across years due to difference in reporting practices. This information was collected this way for the first time in 2015. However, an increasing number of local authorities are not using the away without authorisation category, to align their figures with information collected locally by the police. This means they will be reporting both their missing and away without authorisation incidents as missing. We anticipate figures for missing are over reported by about 13%. See the methodology document for further details.
Missing incidents were reported for 13,010 of CLA (11%) in 2024 and there were 83,920 missing incidents. This is an average (mean) of 6.5 missing incidents per child who went missing. The vast majority (90%) of missing incidents lasted for 2 days or less.
A third of missing incidents during the year were from former independent and semi-independent living, or supported accommodation placements, a third were from children's homes and 18% were from foster placements. Placements inside the local authority boundary accounted for 54% of all missing incidents.
Missing is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known.
Away without authorisation incidents were reported for 2% of CLA (2,720 children).
Away from placement without authorisation is defined as a looked after child whose whereabouts is known but who is not at their placement or place they are expected to be and the carer has concerns or the incident has been notified to the local authority or the police.
Further information on CLA who were missing or who were away from placement without authorisation can be found in the ‘G’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
Counts of the number of children ceasing to be looked after during the year (CLA ceasing) relate to the last time the child ceased to be looked after during the year in each LA. However, there may be some double counting if a child's care transfers to another LA, and then the child ceases to be looked after in the subsequent LA within the same reporting year.
The number of CLA ceasing during the year increased by 6% since last year to 33,620. The count of CLA ceasing includes children and young people whose care transferred to another LA, which was 6% of all CLA ceasing in 2024 (2,140 children), up from 1% in 2020 (340 children). This increase is due to UASC, whose care is more likely to transfer due to the National Transfer Scheme. If we exclude children whose care transferred to another LA from the count, then the number of CLA ceasing during the year increased by 3% since last year to 31,490.
Of all children and young people ceasing to be looked after during the year, 39% ceased on their 18th birthday up from 35% in 2020, and 5% were aged under 1 year, down from 7% in 2020.
The most common reasons for children and young people leaving care were:
Just over a quarter (28%) of CLA ceasing had been looked after for under 6 months, down very slightly from 29% in 2020.
The average duration of the period of care for children ceasing to be looked after has been decreasing since a peak of 907 days in 2021 and is now at 864 days.
Further information on CLA ceasing during the year can be found in the ‘D’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
The number of CLA who were adopted is very similar to last year at 2,980.
Adoptions rose sharply from 2011 to a peak in 2015 but have since been falling. This decrease follows two court rulings in 2013, which stated that adoption orders should be made only when there was no other alternative, such as placing a child with birth relatives. There was a further fall in 2021 during the pandemic, which was a result of the impact on court proceedings during the pandemic where cases progressed more slowly or were paused, however since then the number of adoptions has remained at or just under 3,000 each year.
The majority of children who were adopted started their final period of care whilst aged under 1 year - 69%.
At adoption, the average age is 3 years and 4 months, which is down slightly by one month compared to last year but is up from 3 years in 2020. On average, it takes 2 years and 5 months (29 months) for a child to be adopted, the same as last year, but up from 2 years (24 months) in 2020.
In 2024, the average time between a child entering care and being placed for adoption was 1 year and 7 months (19 months), the same as last year. It then takes a further 9 months on average for an adoption order to be granted and completed.
The number of CLA ceasing during the year under a special guardianship order (SGO) is the same as last year at 3,860. Most SGOs were granted to relatives or friends (88%) the remainder were largely to other former foster carers (9%).
The average age at SGO remained the same as last year at 6 years and 2 months.
Most children who cease to be looked after under a special guardianship order were looked after under a care order - 92%.
Further information on CLA ceasing due to adoption or through being the subject of an SGO can be found in the ‘E’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
Data collected on care leavers
Local authorities provide information about young people who were previously looked after, who turned 17 to 21 in the year. These young people were CLA for at least 13 weeks after their 14th birthday, including some time after their 16th birthday. The information provided relates to contact around their birthday in the year.
Local authorities are expected to stay in touch with care leavers and provide statutory support to help the care leaver transition to living independently. The proportion of care leavers whom the local authority is in touch with varies by age and has generally been stable across all ages except 17-year-olds. As these young people are less likely to be in touch with the local authority, less information is known about their activity and accommodation as a care leaver.
Information is collected on the activity that most accurately reflects the young person's main activity status on or around their birthday and figures are in the table below.
For 19- to 21- year-olds 27% were in education (6% higher education, 21% education other than higher education) and 27% were in training or employment or an apprenticeship; 39% were not in education, employment or training (NEET), compared to an estimated 13% of all young people aged 19 to 21 years old (Source: Labour force survey data, percentage of young people aged 19 to 21 in England who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) during the year ending 31 March 2024).
As former care leavers get older, they tend to transition into more independent living arrangements. The most common living arrangements (on or around their birthday) were:
The full list of the accommodation that care leavers are living in can be found in the ‘F’ feature tables accompanying this release.
Information on whether care leaver accommodation is suitable can be used to monitor whether they are receiving the support they need to make a successful transition to adulthood. However, there are no hard and fast rules on whether accommodation is deemed ‘suitable’; the decision made by local authorities when reporting accommodation information will depend on the circumstances of the individual case.
The proportions of young people known to be in unsuitable accommodation are in the table.
The proportion of 18-year-olds in a foster placement, who ceased to be looked after on their 18th birthday and who were still living with their former foster carers 3 months after their 18th birthday (‘staying put’) remains at 62% in 2024, the same as last year and up from 58% in 2020. The proportion of 19- and 20-year-olds still living with their foster carers also remained the same as last year, at 32%.
For former care leavers aged 19-21-years, an increasing number and proportion were formerly UASC. This increase is due to the relatively high number of UASC since 2015 moving through the age groups and who are now care leavers.
Further information on care leavers can be found in the ‘F’ highlight tables accompanying this release.
Data was collected for the first time in 2023 on care leavers aged 22- to 25-years-old who had been in touch with their local authority and who had requested and received support. We believe the data collected may be an undercount of the full cohort, particularly for the older care leavers, so users should take this into account when using this data.
Care leavers are assigned a Personal Advisor who will work with the young person to make sure they receive the care, support and entitlements they need when they leave care. Care leavers will have a Personal Advisor until they are at least 21 years old, and up to the age of 25 years if the care leaver chooses.
Whereas for care leavers aged 21 years and younger, the local authority is expected to initiate contact with the care leaver, they are not expected to be in touch and initiate contact with young people over age 21. This data is collected and reported (based on their latest contact during the year) and records the numbers of older care leavers who are accessing their entitlement to request support in order to better understand their activity and accommodation status.
The data shows that 55% of care leavers aged 22 years requested and received support from their local authority at some point during the year. This proportion decreases as age increases, for example the figures are 40% of 23-year-olds, 31% of 24-year-olds and 20% of 25-year-olds.
Further information on the activity and accommodation of 22- to 25-year-old care leavers who had requested and received support from the local authority can be found in the ‘J' highlight tables accompanying this release.
To find information on topics of interest, expand the content sections i.e. ‘Children looked after on 31 March’, ‘Care leavers’, etc. In each section, there will be summary commentary and related tables/charts. You can also create your own tables through the table tool or modify the pre-prepared tables which use the same files.
At the top of the release, there is a link ‘download associated files’ which includes the data and metadata that sits underneath the release. There are also links under ‘related guidance’ at the top right-hand side of the release. These will direct you to the statistics methodology document, the latest data collection guide and the EES glossary.
The standard period for data in the release is for the year ending 31 March 2020 to the year ending 31 March 2024. Users wishing to access time series longer than the published five years may refer to the equivalent tables in earlier statistical releases in this series. The data set ‘Time series of children looked after data - 1994 to 2024 - NATIONAL’ includes longer time series data from 1994 for children looked after, and for unaccompanied asylum seeking-children a time series from 2004. Figures for CLA back to 1965 are available in the annex of the methodology document for this release.
Previous publications on children looked after, for 2019 and earlier, can be found on GOV.UK at: Statistics - looked after children (opens in a new tab). Links to other related statistical publications on children's social care can be found in the methodology document that accompanies this release.
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