A version of this blog appeared in CYP Now and was published in November 2025.
As Children’s Commissioner, I have a special responsibility to children who are care-experienced or living away from home. That is not just a responsibility defined by legislation, but one that I feel personally.
As a teacher and headteacher for 30 years, I was part of a wave of reform that transformed the outcomes for many children in school – but at the same time, I saw many of our most vulnerable children failed because these reforms never gripped the importance of wider support services in their lives.
Underestimating these services has significant implications for the outcomes of children who rely on them to achieve their potential. Just 13% of care leavers go to university, compared to nearly half of the general population. Nearly two in five care leavers aged 19-21 in England are not in education, employment or training (NEET). And they are disproportionately represented in prison population – something I will shortly be publishing further research on.
Our tolerance of low standards of care for this group of young people is shameful – more than 29,000 children in care live in local authorities judged less than good by Ofsted. My recent report, The Children’s Plan: Vision for Care, makes clear that level of failure – despite the best efforts of the many dedicated professionals working in the sector – would never be allowed elsewhere.
The services care leavers rely on to make the successful transition to adulthood are not marginal. They are the things other children take for granted: housing, financial support, access to higher or further education, work experience – and they deserve the same attention and ambition as any other.
As one 15-year-old girl told me: “Nowadays, birth children stay with their families until [their] late 20s and even into their 30s; as children in care we do not get this opportunity, setting us up to fail.”
There has been some good progress in how care leavers are supported across society. The introduction of a set of corporate parenting responsibilities offers a template for all public bodies to focus on improving their offer to care experienced children and young people. But this must go further to include authorities with immigration functions so that children seeking asylum are given consistent support across all areas of government.
Similarly, under the new Social Housing Local Connection Test, some unnecessary barriers have been removed for care leavers seeking a place to live. However, too many care leavers still tell my office they are denied priority housing because they live outside of their home area – that must be addressed urgently.
Housing is the most common problem care leavers approach my advocacy team Help at Hand about. Every care leaver should be entitled to either a ‘Staying Put’ or ‘Staying Close’ arrangement, where they stay with or near their former foster carers or children’s home – or, if they prefer, be given priority housing in whatever area they are living. They need access to stable accommodation throughout their university career, so that more care experienced young people consider higher education without worrying about the additional burden.
From the age of 18 they should be entitled to the over-25 rate of Universal Credit in recognition of their financial difficulties – and they deserve to be exempt from paying council tax up to the age of 25, regardless of where they live. Many areas already do this; now it must be extended nationally.
If students, diplomats and members of the armed forces can be given exemptions, there is simply no reason not to grant the same recognition to care leavers.
As we celebrate Care Leavers’ Month, I hope it offers a moment for policy makers and decision takers to reflect on the many practical steps to be taken to raise standards and outcomes for young people leaving care.
We are at a critical juncture for children’s services, with reforms underway across children’s social care, health, and education. Care leavers must be given far higher priority than they ever have been before – and their voices and experiences must be placed at the centre of change.
