Children looked after return: guide to submitting data
How local authorities should collect and submit data for the annual children looked after return (also known as SSDA903).
- From:
- Department for Education
- Published
- 25 March 2014
- Last updated
-
1630 October20242025 — See all updates
Applies to England
The children looked after return is an annual statutory data collection for all local authorities. You must complete statutory censuses by law unless there’s a good reason not to.
The data covers the financial year (1 April to 31 March). It records details of:
- every child your local authority looks after at any time during the year
- all young people who are eligible for care leaver support and whose 17th to 25th birthdays fall within the collection period
- information on the health of children who have been looked after continuously for 12 months
- information on adoptions of looked-after children
Under the Children Act 1989, a child is legally defined as ‘looked after’ by a local authority if he or she:
- gets accommodation from the local authority for a continuous period of more than 24 hours
- is subject to a care order (to put the child into the care of the local authority)
- is subject to a placement order (to put the child up for adoption)
Important dates
20242025 to 20252026 return
- collection opens
TuesdayWednesday 1 April20252026 - data loaded by Friday
3029 May20252026 - main children looked after data and social worker episodes data submitted by
MondayTuesday 30 June20252026
Submit your data
You should submit your 20242025 to 20252026 data in XML or CSV format using the ‘CLA 20252026 application’. We’ll publish the application before the return opens and notify all users.
See the guide for local authorities for more information on preparing the data.
Return documents
The following documents will help local authorities complete the children looked after return:
2024 to 2025 return
2025 to 2026 return
Help with submitting data
For complex questions, or if you want to request a username and password for the CLA application, use the service request form. We aim to answer your question within 5 working days.
Feedback
Use the feedback form if you have any comments about our data collection service, including the CLA system and the helpdesk service.
Updates to this page
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Update history
2025-11-05 08:52
Added links to the 2026 to 2027 guide and technical specification.
2025-10-30 15:34
Added the dates for the 2025 to 2026 return.
2024-10-16 11:37
Links to the 2025 to 2026 return guide for local authorities and technical specification have been added. The 2024 to 2025 return dates have been added.
2024-01-31 15:14
Updated the ‘Important dates’ section with new dates.
2023-10-09 16:29
The 2024 to 2025 return guide for local authorities and technical specification have been added. The 2023 to 2024 return dates have been added.
2022-10-11 16:25
Updated ‘return documents’ and ‘important dates’ sections with latest 2023 to 2024 information.
2022-10-05 15:28
Updated ‘return documents’ section with latest 2023 to 2024 information.