The Department for Education (DfE) has published a Statistical First Release providing national and local authority level data about looked after children and young people, care leavers and adoptions in the year ending 31st March 2018. Key points include:
- 75,420 children were looked after at 31 March 2018, an increase of 3.9% on the previous year (72,670)
- 2,230 children were placed for adoption at 31 March 2018, a decrease of 18% on the previous year (2,710)
- 3,820 children were adopted from care in the year ending 31 March 2018, down 12.6% from 2016-17 (4,370)
- 3,430 children ceased to be cared for due to the granting of a special guardianship order in the year ending 31st March 2018, down 7.8% from 2016-17 (3,720)
Further details can be found in the Statistical First Release and tables are available here.