Children looked after by councils, England
Accredited official statistics
Children looked after by councils in England on 31 March each year since 1994, those who started or ceased to be looked after and were adopted in the year, and the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children among them, from the Department for Education.
Children looked after on 31 March
81,770
2024/25 · 67 per 10,000 children under 18
Verified against source, 8 November 2026, 13:16 UTC- Looked after on 31 March
- Of whom unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
- Started to be looked after in the year
- Ceased to be looked after in the year
- Adopted in the year
Source: Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
32 periods, newest first
| Period | Looked after on 31 March | Of whom unaccompanied asylum-seeking children | Started to be looked after in the year | Ceased to be looked after in the year | Adopted in the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 81,770 | 6,540 | 32,270 | 34,450 | 3,040 |
| 2023/24 | 83,530 | 7,440 | 33,130 | 33,780 | 3,020 |
| 2022/23 | 83,750 | 7,410 | 33,090 | 31,850 | 3,000 |
| 2021/22 | 82,090 | 5,680 | 31,100 | 30,230 | 3,010 |
| 2020/21 | 80,780 | 4,150 | 28,470 | 28,120 | 2,890 |
| 2019/20 | 80,000 | 5,080 | 31,010 | 29,710 | 3,480 |
| 2018/19 | 78,140 | 5,150 | 31,780 | 29,570 | 3,600 |
| 2017/18 | 75,360 | 4,560 | 32,190 | 30,050 | 3,850 |
| 2016/17 | 72,600 | 4,710 | 32,940 | 31,410 | 4,370 |
| 2015/16 | 70,400 | 4,340 | 32,160 | 31,850 | 4,710 |
| 2014/15 | 69,460 | 2,760 | 31,350 | 31,350 | 5,360 |
| 2013/14 | 68,790 | 2,050 | 30,730 | 30,600 | 5,050 |
| 2012/13 | 68,050 | 1,940 | 28,970 | 28,650 | 4,010 |
| 2011/12 | 67,070 | 2,230 | 28,390 | 27,520 | 3,470 |
| 2010/11 | 65,500 | 2,740 | 27,510 | 27,120 | 3,090 |
| 2009/10 | 64,460 | 3,490 | 28,090 | 25,310 | 3,200 |
| 2008/09 | 60,920 | 3,890 | 25,680 | 25,010 | 3,330 |
| 2007/08 | 59,360 | 3,540 | 23,250 | 24,500 | 3,180 |
| 2006/07 | 59,960 | 3,390 | 23,960 | 24,980 | 3,330 |
| 2005/06 | 60,300 | 3,370 | 24,590 | 25,900 | 3,700 |
| 2004/05 | 60,950 | 3,160 | 24,910 | 25,940 | 3,770 |
| 2003/04 | 61,180 | 3,000 | 25,020 | 25,740 | 3,760 |
| 2002/03 | 60,810 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 24,390 | 24,580 | 3,540 |
| 2001/02 | 59,710 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 24,810 | 25,680 | 3,430 |
| 2000/01 | 58,890 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 24,630 | 25,290 | 3,070 |
| 1999/00 | 58,100 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 28,400 | 26,730 | 2,710 |
| 1998/99 | 55,460 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 28,090 | 26,820 | 2,060 |
| 1997/98 | 53,330 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 29,610 | 29,090 | 2,190 |
| 1996/97 | 50,880 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 29,560 | 29,760 | 1,830 |
| 1995/96 | 50,000 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 31,710 | 31,900 | 1,870 |
| 1994/95 | 48,680 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 31,720 | 32,410 | 1,980 |
| 1993/94 | 47,590 | not available (x): the DfE's ‘not available’ | 30,220 | 32,130 | 2,190 |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Department for Education
- Check it yourself
- https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 8 November 2026, 13:07 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019a9c62-aca8-772e-b92b-8678622ec297/csvSHA-256 81568df1337161ba5d026423563680f3c0cdeba2c53ef7bb9cd7c52a27e34e5d · 1,410 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/data-set-files?publicationId=3260801d-601a-48c6-93b7-cf51680323d1&latestOnly=true&pageSize=40&page=1SHA-256 ddbc0f135b55d1894368fff124fe498a5d926cb299dd0aefdff624331a3772cd · 48,093 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/data-set-files?publicationId=3260801d-601a-48c6-93b7-cf51680323d1&latestOnly=true&pageSize=40&page=2SHA-256 d56e12f040dc884f6121448a3fd6b695c6c7cc46ddb6588dff98830d1c123b08 · 6,165 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/8c28aca0-6ab9-400b-b7de-c5fc7a148c2e/files?fileIds=253c109a-2034-4f65-4edd-08de00b812e3SHA-256 c05c229e9453a0d8714d351b67d69d0e2cc6b5ce9ec0c536954abc1022819b7e · 40,541 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 8 November 2026, 13:16 UTC Run at 8 November 2026, 13:16 UTC; 160 of 160 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Department for Education; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-08T13:07:03Z; 4 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 4 of 4 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 160 of 160 figures and the headline reproduced; the meta's rate_per_10000 and missing match |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 160 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 160 of 160 figures match exactly after downloading 4 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches; the meta's rate_per_10000 and missing match |
| Pass | EES data set is current | latest period 2024/25 ended 587 days before retrieval (limit 650) |
| Pass | EES query API agrees | 150 of 150 figures match the query API (https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019a9c62-aca8-772e-b92b-8678622ec297/query?indicators=dOW0Z&geographicLevels.eq=NAT&pageSize=10000) |
| Pass | The rates file's counts agree | 15 of 15 counts in the DfE's file of numbers and rates match the data set's; the proof counts these figures under the query API, which gives them all |
| Pass | The unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and the rest add up to all those looked after | 22 of 22 cases of the years' children looked after, unaccompanied asylum-seeking or not, add up to all of them within the 15 their rounding to 10 allows within 15 (18 exactly); the DfE marks both parts not available (x) for 10 years, 1993/94 to 2002/03, so they have nothing to add |
| Pass | Each rate is its count per 10,000 children | 15 of 15 cases of the rates file's rates are its count per 10,000 of its population of children under 18, to the whole number it gives within 0.51 (0 exactly) |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Children looked after by councils in England on 31 March at the end of each year shown, and those who started or ceased to be looked after, or were adopted, in the year to that 31 March, as councils return them to the DfE. The DfE rounds each count to the nearest 10.
- The rate per 10,000 children under 18 is the DfE's own, from its file of numbers and rates by council, which gives it from 2021.