Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England

Published on: Apr 09, 2026
Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England

This statistical release provides a range of outcome measures at national and local authority level for children in need (CIN), including children looked after (CLA) by local authorities in England.

The data has important messages for all education settings, especially when it comes to how you practice in relation to Inclusion, SEND, attendance and children who have a Social Worker.

Some headlines from the data:

  • 62.9% of CIN students were eligible for free school meals, compared to 25.7% of all students

  • Students in the key social care groups have lower attainment, on average, than the overall student population across all Key Stage 4 attainment measures

  • The percentage of students in most of the key social care groups meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics (combined) at Key Stage 2 is roughly half that for the overall student population

  • The percentage of students in the key social care groups that have a special educational need (SEN) is over twice that for the overall student population

Children can have social care support for a broad variety of reasons - when was the last time you stepped back and made sure you fully understood what it might mean for individual students when they have social care involvement in their lives?

Check out some of our resource pages for more information:

Children in the Care of Others

Children with Family Members in Prison

Specific Risks for Children with SEND

The Impact of Poverty


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