Looked after children in schools

This page provides information on looked after children and the obligations of schools in relation to looked after children.

Who is a looked after child?

A looked after child is defined as a child in the care of the local authority or who is being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions at the time of making an application to the school.

A previously looked after child is a child who was looked after but were then immediately adopted, became subject to a Child Arrangements Order or a Special Guardianship Order.

There are two main routes into the ‘looked after’ system:

• Being accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989
• Being made the subject of a Care Order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989.

Under section 20, children and young people can be ‘accommodated’ with the consent of those with Parental Responsibility. If the young person is 16 or 17 years old, they do not need the consent of those with Parental Responsibility in order to be accommodated by the Local Authority.

The Children and Families Act 2014 amends section 22 of the Children Act 1989 to require every local authority in England to appoint an officer employed by the authority, or another authority, to make sure that its duty to promote the educational achievement of its looked after children is properly discharged.

School admissions

This section applies to maintained schools and academies by virtue of their funding agreement unless varied by the Secretary of State. Academies should check their funding agreement. 

Children in care are among the most vulnerable children in society and it is of paramount importance that a school place is found that is in the best interests of the child as quickly as possible. Admissions Authorities must give highest priority to looked after children and previously looked after children.

Although schools can take into account any selection and faith criteria, they must give first/top priority to children in care, or Looked after Children. From September 2013 onwards they must also give priority to children that have been previously looked after but have been subsequently adopted or made subject to a Special Guardianship, Residence Order, or a Child Arrangements order.

After prioritising looked after and previously looked after children all other applicants must then be considered according to the oversubscription criteria.

Admission authorities for faith schools must give first priority to looked after children and previously looked after children of the faith before other children of the faith. Where they give any element of priority to children not of their faith, they must give priority in their over subscription criteria to looked after children and previously looked after children not of the faith above other children not of the faith.

It is the responsibility of the designated virtual school head to ensure that:

• admission authorities understand that Fair Access Protocols do not apply to looked after children and that they are ‘excepted pupils’ in relation to infant class size regulations
• the local authority, as a corporate parent, does not tolerate drift and delay where children the authority looks after are without an education placement that is appropriate to their assessed needs. This includes using their powers of direction in a timely way rather than delay issuing a direction as a result of protracted negotiation.

School Admissions Code

The admission requirements for looked after children are set out in the School Admissions Code. This Code applies to maintained schools and academies.

There is a responsibility to ensure that:

• admission authorities understand that Fair Access Protocols do not apply to looked after children
• looked after children are ‘excepted pupils’ with regards to infant class size regulations

Selective schools

Only designated Grammar schools are permitted to select their entire intake on the basis of high academic ability. Grammar schools do not have to fill all of their places if applicants have not reached the required standard. If the entire intake is based on high academic ability the school does not have to give priority to looked after or previously looked after children. If the admission arrangements are not based solely on the highest scores then the admission authority must give priority to all looked after or previously looked after children who meet the ability test standards. 

Maintained boarding schools

Boarding schools must giver priority to looked after children and previously looked after children in their oversubscription criteria.

A looked after child is defined as a child in the care of the local authority or who is being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions at the time of making an application to the school.

A previously looked after child is a child who was looked after but were then immediately adopted, became subject to a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order.

Infant Class Size Exceptions

Infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher. Additional children may be admitted under limited exceptional circumstances. These circumstances have been extended by the 2012 Code.

Looked after children and previously looked after children who were admitted outside the normal admissions round are excepted children from this rule. Therefore, they may be admitted even if an infant class already contains 30 pupils.

Other excepted children are:

• Children admitted outside the normal admissions round with statements of special educational needs specifying a school;
• Children admitted, after initial allocation of places, because of a procedural error made by the admission authority or local authority in the original application process;
• Children admitted after an independent appeals panel upholds an appeal;
• Children who move into the area outside the normal admissions round for whom there is no other available school within reasonable distance;
• Children of UK service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round
• Children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted otherwise than as an excepted pupil;
• Children with special educational needs who are normally taught in a special educational needs unit attached to the school, or registered at a special school, who attend some infant classes within the mainstream school

Waiting lists

A child’s name can be added to the waiting list for any school that the parent has applied for but have not been offered a place. Admission Authorities must keep a waiting list for at least one term and parents can ask the Admission Authority how the waiting list is to be ordered. 

Looked after children and previously looked after children have greater priority on the waiting list. This can result in moving other children down on the list.

Pupil premium

Looked after children are one of the groups of pupils that attract pupil premium funding. Local authorities receive a pupil premium grant allocation based on the number of children looked after for at least one day and aged 4 to 15 at 31 August as recorded in the latest looked after children data return.

The looked after children premium must be managed by the designated virtual school head and used for the benefit of the looked-after child’s educational needs as described in their personal education plan.

The designated virtual school head should ensure there are arrangements in place to discuss how the child will benefit from pupil premium funding with the designated teacher in the child’s education setting.

The pupil premium will also include pupils recorded in the January 2015 school census and alternative provision census who were looked after by an English or Welsh local authority immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangements Order (previously known as a Residence Order).

An admission authority may give priority in its oversubscription criteria to children who are eligible for early years pupil premium, pupil premium and service premium if:

• they are in a nursery class attached to a school or
• they attend a nursery established and run by the school and is named in the admissions arrangements.

School exclusions

This section applies to both maintained schools and academies. 

What are the school’s obligations when a child has is looked after?

There are certain groups of pupils with additional needs who are particularly vulnerable to exclusion. This includes looked after children.

Head teachers should, as far as possible, avoid excluding permanently any Looked After Child. Schools should engage proactively with parents in supporting the behaviour of pupils with additional needs. In relation to looked after children, schools should co-operate proactively with foster carers or children’s home workers and the local authority that looks after the child. Where a school has concerns about the behaviour, or risk of exclusion, a looked after child it should, in partnership with others (including the local authority as necessary), consider what additional support or alternative placement may be required.

Many looked after children also have SEN. This should involve assessing the suitability of support for a pupil’s SEN. Where a pupil has a statement of SEN or EHCP, schools should consider requesting an early annual review or interim / emergency review.

Every school is required to have systems in place to identify children who are in need of support and to assess, monitor and secure appropriate support for any SEN they may have. Under paragraph 6.2 of the Special Educational Needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years each school must:

• Use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN 
• Ensure that children and young people with SEN engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEN 
• Designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision – the SEN co-ordinator, or SENCO. (This does not apply to 16 to 19 academies.) 
• Inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child 
• Prepare an SEN information report and their arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps being taken to prevent disabled children from being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to enable access to the school for disabled children and their accessibility plan showing how they plan to improve access progressively over time.

For more information our guide on Providing for Special Educational Needs.

Where a school has concerns about a looked-after child’s behaviour, the designated virtual school head should be informed and, where necessary, involved at the earliest opportunity. This is to enable the designated virtual school head, working with others, to:

• consider what additional assessment and support (such as additional help for the classroom teacher, one-to-one therapeutic work or a suitable alternative placement) needs to be put in place to address the causes of the child’s behaviour and prevent the need for exclusion
• make any additional arrangements to support the child’s on-going education in the event of an exclusion.

The Personal Education Plan (PEP)

Some children may have undiagnosed special needs when they start to be looked-after. As part of the PEP process there should be robust arrangements in place to ensure that any undiagnosed special educational needs are addressed through the SEND framework as soon as possible.

All looked after children must have a care plan, of which the PEP is an integral part.

All of those involved in the process of developing the PEP should use it to support the personalised learning of the child.

The PEP (pre-school to age 18) is an evolving record of what needs to happen for looked after children to enable them to make expected progress and fulfil their potential. The PEP should reflect the importance of a personalised approach to learning that meets the identified educational needs of the child, raises aspirations and builds life chances.

The quality of the PEP is the joint responsibility of the local authority that looks after the child and the school. Social workers, carers, officers employed by the local authority, designated teachers and, as appropriate, other relevant professionals will need to work closely together. All of those involved in the PEP process at all stages should involve the child (according to understanding and ability) and, where appropriate, the child’s parent and/or relevant family member.

For each statutory review of the care plan the PEP must include:

• any new information about progress towards education targets since the last PEP review
• information about what has not been taken forward.

To be an effective tool in this respect, the PEP should:

• identify developmental and educational needs in relation to skills, knowledge, subject areas and experiences;
• set short and long term educational attainment targets agreed in partnership with the child and the carer where appropriate;
• be a record of planned actions, e.g. on homework, extra tuition, study support (including the date by which these should be done), that the school and others will take to promote the educational achievement of the child based on an assessment of his or her educational needs;
• include information on how the progress of the child is to be rigorously monitored
• record details of specific interventions and targeted support that will be used to make sure personal education targets are met
• say what will happen or is already happening to put in place any additional support which may be required – e.g. possible action to support special educational needs involving the SENCO, educational psychologist, or local authority education services;
• set out how a child’s aspiration and self confidence and ambition is being nurtured, especially in consideration of longer term goals towards further and higher education, work experience and career plans;
• be a record of the child’s academic achievements and participation in the wider activities of the school and other out of school learning activities (e.g. sporting, personal development, community);
• provide information which helps all who are supporting the child’s educational achievement to understand what works for him or her;
• have clear accountability in terms of who within the school is responsible for making the actions identified in the plan happen.

PEP content

The range of education and development needs that should be covered in a PEP includes:

• access to a nursery or other high quality early years provision that is appropriate to the child’s age (e.g. pre-school playgroups) and meets their identified developmental needs
• on-going catch-up support for those who have fallen behind with school work (including use of effective intervention strategies)
• provision of immediate suitable education where a child is not in school (e.g. because of temporary or permanent exclusion)
• transition support needs where needed, such as when a child begins to attend a new school or returns to school (e.g. moving from pre-school, primary to secondary school or following illness or exclusion) or when a child has a plan for permanence (e.g. placed for adoption) and may change schools as part of that plan;
• support needed to help the child realise their short and long-term academic achievements and aspirations. This includes:
• support to achieve expected levels of progress for the relevant national curriculum key stage and to complete an appropriate range of approved qualifications
• careers advice and guidance and financial information about further and higher education, training and employment
• out-of-school hours learning activities, study support and leisure interests
• school attendance and, where appropriate, behaviour support

Designated teacher

From 1 September 2009 the governing bodies of all maintained schools are required under the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) to appoint a designated teacher to promote the educational achievement of looked after children who are on the school roll.

The governing body must ensure that the designated teacher undertakes appropriate training (section 20(2) of the 2008 Act).

As a minimum governors must consider an annual report from the designated teacher which contains the information described in section 2.10 of this guidance.

The governing body and school leadership team should consider the report and act on any issues it raises so as to support the designated teacher and maximise the impact of the role.

The duties of the designated teacher within the school are:

• To help school staff understand the things which affect how looked after children learn and achieve.
• To promote a culture of high expectations and aspirations for how looked after children learn 
• To make sure the young person has a voice in setting learning targets
• To be a source of advice for staff about differentiated teaching strategies appropriate for individual children and in making full use of Assessment for Learning
• To make sure that looked after children are prioritised in one-to-one tuition arrangements and that carers understand the importance of supporting learning at home
• To have lead responsibility for the development and implementation of the child’s personal education plan (PEP) within the school

The designated teacher leads on how the PEP is used as a tool in school to make sure the child’s progress towards education targets is monitored. S/he makes sure that it is updated and available in time for the local authority review of the child’s wider care plan.  The designated teacher should ensure that PEP includes: the child’s details that the school needs to know – such as age; care status; where the child lives; school history and whether the child has a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or are having their SEN met through School Action or School Action Plus;

• the child’s carers;
• the child’s parents and what restrictions might apply in relation to their contact with the child;
• whom to contact within the local authority that looks after the child (social worker and looked after children education team contact).

In promoting the educational achievement of looked after pupils the designated teacher should:

• contribute to the development and review of whole school policies to ensure that they do not unintentionally put looked after children at a disadvantage;
• make sure, in partnership with other staff, that there are effective and well understood school procedures in place to support a looked after child’s learning. Particular account should be taken of the child’s needs when joining the school and of the importance of promoting an ethos of high expectations about what he or she can achieve;
• promote a culture in which looked after children believe they can succeed and aspire to further and higher education;
• promote a culture in which looked after children are able to discuss their progress and be involved in setting their own targets, have their views taken seriously and are supported to take responsibility for their own learning;
• be a source of advice for teachers at school about differentiated teaching strategies appropriate for individual pupils who are looked after;
• make sure the school makes full use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) approaches to improve the short and medium term progress of looked after children and help them and their teachers understand where they are in their learning, where they need to go and how to get there;
• make sure that looked after children are prioritised in any selection of pupils who would benefit from one-to-one tuition and that they have access to academic focused study support;
• promote good home-school links through contact with the child’s carer about how they can support his or her progress by paying particular attention to effective communication with carers. In particular, they should make sure that carers understand the potential value of one-to-one tuition and are equipped to engage with it at home;
• have lead responsibility for the development and implementation of the child’s PEP within school in partnership with others as necessary.

Legislation

Section 20 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (“the 2008 Act”) places a duty on the governing body of maintained schools1 to designate a member of staff (the ‘designated teacher’) as having responsibility to promote the educational achievement of looked after children who are registered pupils at the school. This includes those aged between 16 and 18.

Under section 20(2) the governing body must ensure that the designated teacher undertakes appropriate training.

Section 20(3) gives the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) powers to make regulations setting out the qualifications and experience which the designated teacher should have.

The Designated Teacher (Looked After Pupils etc)(England) Regulations 2009 (the Regulations) require that the person designated is:

• a qualified teacher who has completed the appropriate induction period (if required) and is working as a teacher at the school (regulation 3(2)) or
• a head teacher or acting head teacher of the school (regulation 3(3)) or
• a person who has had responsibility for promoting the educational achievement of looked after pupils for at least six months immediately before the Regulations came into force and who is training to be a teacher and likely to qualify before 1 September 2012 (regulation 3(4)).

Education for care leavers

All children who are over 16 and leaving care fall within one of the four categories of:

1. Eligible Children
2. Relevant Children
3. Former Relevant Children
4. Other Qualifying Care Leavers

The Children Act 1989 places duties on Local Authorities towards looked after children with regards to their education as they exit the care system. Particular duties will be placed on the Local Authority if the child meets certain criteria.

Eligible Children

Eligible children are young people aged between 16 and 17 who have been looked after by the Local Authority (LA) for at least 13 weeks, since the age of 14 and are still being looked after. The period of 13 weeks does not need to be continuous.

Relevant Children

Relevant children are young people aged between 16 and 17 who have been looked after by the LA for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and who have been looked after at some time after their 16th birthday, and who have now left care.

A relevant child can include those who have been detained through the criminal justice system, or were in hospital on their 16th birthday.

If a relevant child has returned home to their parents, they cease to be a relevant child after being at home for 6 months. However, if this arrangement later breaks down before their 18th birthday they return to being a relevant child.

If a young person has experienced a series of pre-planned respite arrangements, not lasting longer than 4 weeks each of these will not be considered as qualifying towards relevant child status. However, if a young person receives respite care on a regular basis then this may amount to the young person being classed as a relevant child; the LA’s policy will need to be considered to determine this.

Former Relevant Children

Former relevant children are young people aged between 18 and 21 who have been either eligible or relevant children or both.

If, at the age of 21, the young person is still being helped by the responsible authority with education or training, then he or she remains a former relevant child until a maximum age of 25, and the programme of education or training will be set out within the Pathway Plan.

Former relevant children are no longer dependent upon the LA for income and housing costs. They can obtain benefits in their own right. If they become homeless at the age of 18, 19 or 20 they will automatically be seen as being a priority need. If they become homeless at the age of 21 or over, they will need to be assessed to establish whether they are vulnerable.

Other Qualifying Care Leavers

Qualifying care leavers are those who were in care after the age of 16 but who are not eligible or relevant because they do not fulfil the 13 week criteria. These care leavers must be under 21, (or 25 if they are in further education or training).

This also include care leavers who are 16-21 who are under a Special Guardianship Order or a Special Guardianship Order was in place when the person turned 18 and the person was looked after by the Local Authority immediately before the Special Guardianship Order was made.