Social care failings affecting education engagement

Overstretched children’s social care services has led to an alarming number of children leaving the care system and becoming homeless, not in employment or not in education, according to a report by the Education Committee.

The report makes a series of recommendations on issues affecting all types of care, including foster care, adoption, kinship care, children’s homes, and support for disabled children. 

Across England, the number of looked-after children stood at 83,630 in 2024 – an increase of over 20% since 2014. Outcomes for young people who leave the care system are also poor. 39% of care leavers aged 19–21 are not in education, training or employment and a third of care leavers become homeless within two years of leaving care. 

The rising level of demand on local authority children’s services departments has been attributed to rising poverty, cost of living pressures, and a decrease in funding for early intervention programmes.  

The report recommends that the Government should develop a National Care Offer, meaning there should be a consistent standard of financial and housing support for care leavers offered by local authorities. 

The Department for Work and Pensions must exempt care leavers from plans to reduce Universal Credit for those aged under 22 and ensure care leavers are prioritised for access to support through the Youth Guarantee. 
    
DfE should ensure it is engaging with care-experienced young people in all areas of its work on children's social care and encourage local authorities to do the same. 

Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP said: “It is unacceptable that thousands of young people leaving care are being left to face homelessness, unemployment or barriers to education – it is a moral failure. The system that should be supporting our most vulnerable children is far too often abandoning them at a critical moment in their lives. Urgent action is needed to fix this broken system and give all of our young people the futures they deserve."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Children in care have often had a really difficult start in life, so it’s vital they get the right support, including when attending school, so they have a genuine chance to flourish.

“Children’s engagement in education isn’t something schools alone can ensure, however. Services like social care and health have a vital role to play in helping children and sharing information with schools so they can understand family circumstances, access the right support for pupils, and minimise disruption to their education - including when they have to move care placement.

“We therefore welcome the recommendations in this report urging the government to develop a workforce strategy for children’s social care, ensure there are sufficient care placements, and focus on early intervention which is so important in addressing issues in children’s and families’ lives before they escalate.

“NAHT is also calling on the government to better align education, health, social care and mental health services as part of a long-term strategic plan, and provide funding so all schools can access trauma-informed training to enable staff to understand the support pupils need.”