The Home Office has published data revealing that immigration officers are more than twice as likely as social workers to assess young asylum seekers as adults. Between July 2025 and March 2026, immigration officials made 4,320 initial age decisions, finding 1,363 new arrivals (32%) to be children. In contrast, local authority social workers completed 1,756 age assessments, recording 1,198 individuals (68%) as children.
Assessment Methods Under Scrutiny
The Home Office acknowledges that initial assessments by immigration officers are typically conducted "at pace" with limited information, while local authority assessments often span six to eight weeks. The department has established a National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) with in-house social workers and proposes strengthening the weight given to its assessments.
Concerns Over Visual Assessments
Many children from countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Eritrea lack passports or birth certificates. UK border officials often rely on visual assessments of "appearance and demeanour." A report by the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration highlighted a decade of concerns about "perfunctory" visual assessments, noting that young people felt pressured into signing documents stating they were adults.
Impact on Children
Children wrongly treated as adults have faced immigration charges, detention with adults, or removal to France under the "one in, one out" returns agreement. Kamena Dorling, director of policy at the Helen Bamber Foundation, called the data publication a "huge step forward" but stressed the need for the Home Office to acknowledge a "serious safeguarding failure."
Criticism of Proposed Changes
The Home Office proposes ending local authority autonomy over age assessments and making NAAB assessments binding. Prof Sam Baron, interim chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, condemned the move, stating that age assessments are being used for immigration enforcement rather than child protection. She urged local authorities to resist this shift.
New research by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the Humans For Rights Network found that since August 2025, at least 141 age-disputed young people have been detained under the one in, one out scheme, with 64 later found to be children or in care. Sophie Cartwright of JRS UK described the detention of children as "horrifying" and harmful.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
