Each year Ofsted asks local authority fostering services and independent fostering agencies for data about the children they provide places for and the foster carers that look after them. This is the only national data collection that provides an overview of the fostering landscape.
Please submit your data via the fostering collection portal: we will provide the link and login details shortly. We will not accept spreadsheet-based submissions. We recommend using the form template provided, as it has been tested to work with the portal, but agencies can create their own templates if they wish, as long as it matches the format the portal is expecting. View a training webinar on the new system.
Agencies: if you would like to get a login for the training webinar, find out more or send us your feedback, please email SocialCareData@ofsted.gov.uk.
The fostering collection is Ofsted’s annual stock-take of the fostering landscape. We ask all 152 local authority fostering agencies and around 280 independent fostering agencies (IFAs) to provide data on:
- households that foster children for their agency
- children fostered by their agency
- data on complaints, allegations and recruitment
This provides a unique insight into a sector that affects the majority of children in care.
2018 to 2019 data collection
We sent details of the 2018 to 2019 data collection to agencies in September 2017. We will publish guidance and a template for the web portal once the 2017 to 2018 collection has begun.