Introduction to children's homes
When and how to register with Ofsted if you want to open or manage a children's home or secure children's home.
Applies to England
Documents
Update history
2024-05-24 15:52
Removed the need for a financial reference, following a change in legislation.
2023-10-06 09:30
Updated the ‘Children’s homes that provide care and accommodation for adults’ section to include information about individual circumstances where it would be in the child’s best interest to live in a children’s home after their 18th birthday. We have also the updated the ‘Guidelines for judging if a home is meeting the ‘wholly or mainly’ definition’ section and added a new paragraph to the ‘Principles to apply where a young adult resides at a children’s home’ section.
2023-04-14 09:30
Clarification added to the location assessment about consulting with relevant local bodies and updated the unregistered section to clarify when we may undertake a criminal investigation. We have also removed guidance on indicators for supported accommodation that is now in our guidance for registering supported accommodation.
2023-01-05 16:10
Guidance on Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children removed in the interim whilst the Home Office and Department for Education review current position.
2022-09-08 09:30
Clarified the section ‘When you do not need to register’ and removed guidance on unregulated establishments as this content is currently under review.