天美影院

Summary of findings

We received a total of 43,777 responses to the survey from all audience types this year, of which 6,995 were from children. This was slightly fewer than we received last year (45,655) but included more responses from children (6,614).

These are our main findings:

• The responses across the different groups of children were broadly in line with last year鈥檚 responses.
• Most children who responded to the survey were positive about the place where they live or stay and the people they interact with.
• Nearly all children who responded said they felt safe where they live or stay. But more children in residential special schools said that they did not feel safe all the time than in the previous 2 years.
• Children living in residential special schools were the most likely to say that they did not get along with their peers, but they were also the most likely to spend time with people who are important to them.
• Nearly all children living in supported accommodation said that they felt safe where they lived, but they were least likely to spend time with the people who are important to them.
• Children living in foster care were more likely than other groups to report getting on with other children in the household. More children living in foster care said that they spend time with people who are important to them than last year.

Background

We use online surveys to gather views about children鈥檚 homes, secure children鈥檚 homes, adoption services, fostering services ^{[footnote 1]}, supported accommodation, residential family centres, boarding schools, residential special schools and further education (FE) colleges with residential provision. ^{[footnote 2]}

The surveys are for:

• children

• learners

• parents

• foster carers ^{[footnote 3]}

• staff

• social workers

• other professionals, such as independent reviewing officers

We ask providers to share the online questionnaire with these groups of people on our behalf.

The survey was open between 5 February and 24 March 2024.

We use the responses, along with other information we have, such as previous inspection findings and any concerns we receive, to decide the timing of the next inspection and what to focus on when we do inspect.

Trained staff read the responses as soon as they come in, to identify any potential safeguarding concerns. If they note any concerns, they immediately refer them to the inspectors and their managers, who decide on the appropriate action to make sure that children remain safe at the places where they live or stay. If any responses raise serious concerns, we take the appropriate action immediately. ^{[footnote 4]}

The questions we asked in 2024 are the same as those we asked in 2023. They focus on the most important things we want to know about children鈥檚 experiences. This year, we have also included children and young people who stay in supported accommodation, as Ofsted started to register this accommodation in April 2023. We have received 454 responses from children and young people who live in supported accommodation. ^{[footnote 5]}

Like last year, we are publishing the accompanying data for all adult responses separately. ^{[footnote 6]}

Who are the children we are talking about?

The Department for Education has reported that almost 84,000 children are looked after聽聽. ^{[footnote 7] [footnote 8]}

68% of looked-after children live with foster carers.

This year, 6,995 children told us about the place where they live or stay, for example their children鈥檚 home, a residential special school, or with foster carers. Not all of these children are looked after. ^{[footnote 9]}

View the accompanying data for this publication in an accessible format.

What we found in 2024

Do you feel safe where you live or stay?

This year, 93% of children living in a children鈥檚 home reported feeling safe 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�, a slight decrease from 95% last year. The percentage of children living in foster care who felt safe 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥� remained consistently higher than other groups, at 99% over the past 3 years. Meanwhile, 97% of children in supported accommodation reported feeling safe 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�.

Children in residential special schools were more likely to say that they 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥� felt safe, with 8% choosing these answers this year, up from 7% last year and 5% in 2022.

Figure 1: Do you feel safe where you live or stay?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 1 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about feeling safe where they live or stay:

Do you get along with the staff where you live or stay?

We asked children how they feel about their relationships with staff or carers where they live or stay. Most children (91%) reported that they get along with staff or carers 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�.

This year, 97% of children in foster care reported that they get along with their carers 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�. The largest change was among the children living in residential special schools: 90% responded 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�, compared with 94% in 2023.

This year, 15% of children in boarding schools said they get along with staff 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥�, up from 12% in 2023.

Figure 2: Do you get along with the staff where you live or stay?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 2 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about getting along with staff:

Do you get on with the other children where you live or stay?

In the latest survey, 82% of children reported getting along with other children 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�.

Children in foster care were most likely to say that they get along with other children in the household 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥� (91%).

The highest proportion of children who responded 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥� were from children鈥檚 homes (27%).

Figure 3: Do you get on with the other children where you live or stay?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 3 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about getting on with the other children:

Do the staff where you live or stay ask you about things that are important to you?

The proportion of children living in children鈥檚 homes and children living in foster care who reported that staff ask them about things that are important to them 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥� was broadly consistent with last year. The majority of children in supported accommodation (92%) also said staff ask them about these things 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost鈥� of the time.

The highest proportion of children who responded 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥� were from boarding schools (42%), followed by FE colleges (36%). This is an improvement from 2023, when it was 41% for FE colleges, but remains high. The proportion of 鈥榮ometimes鈥�, and 鈥榥ever鈥� responses is also high among children at residential special schools, at 20%. This is similar to last year, when it was 21%.

Figure 4: Do the staff where you live or stay ask you about things that are important to you?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 4 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about staff asking about things that are important to them:

Do the staff where you live or stay listen to you?

The percentage of children living in children鈥檚 homes and children living in foster care who said staff listen to them 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥� was 89% and 97% respectively, similar to last year (90% and 95%). Ninety-two percent of children living in supported accommodation responded 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�.

Children living in boarding schools were most likely to report that staff listen to them 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥�, with 22% choosing these responses. This was a small increase compared with 19% in 2023 and 2022. Twelve percent of children from FE colleges said that staff listen to them 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥�, an improvement from 18% in 2023 and 22% in 2022.

Figure 5: Do the staff where you live or stay listen to you?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 5 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about staff listening to them:

Do you spend time with people who are important to you?

This year, 77% of children living in children鈥檚 homes said they get to spend time with people who are important to them 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥�. This was similar to the proportion in 2023 (78%). Among children living in foster care, 76% responded 鈥榓lways鈥� or 鈥榤ost of the time鈥� 鈥� a small improvement from 74% in 2023.

Children living in supported accommodation were the most likely to respond negatively to this question, with 26% choosing 鈥榮ometimes鈥� or 鈥榥ever鈥�. Children staying in residential special schools had the highest proportion of 鈥榓lways鈥� and 鈥榤ost of the time鈥� responses, at 85%. This was also the highest positive response rate last year (84%).

Figure 6: Do you spend time with people who are important to you?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 6 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about spending time with people important to them:

In the last week, did you do something fun?

Among children living in children鈥檚 homes, 92% said they did something fun in the last week, compared with 94% in 2023. The proportion of children living in foster care who responded 鈥榶es鈥� remained the same as last year, at 96%. Of children living in supported accommodation, 83% said they did something fun the previous week.

The highest proportion of children saying 鈥榥o鈥� was among children living in boarding schools (18%), supported accommodation (17%) and FE colleges (16%). However, this was an improvement for FE colleges compared with last year, when 1 in 5 children said they did not do anything fun the previous week.

Figure 7: In the last week, did you do something fun?

<sup>Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.

View the聽data for figure 7 in an accessible table format.</sup>

What children told us about doing something fun:

What would you like to tell us about the place you live?

We asked children to tell us anything they wanted to about the place where they lived or stayed. Of the 6,995 children who responded to the survey, 5,615 answered this question.听聽

One of the most common responses from children (around 2,000) was their overall happiness about the place they lived or stayed, describing it as being 鈥榖rilliant鈥� or similar.听聽

Children also commented on the staff or carers where they lived or stayed. Comments were generally positive, but some children felt they were not listened to.听

Children were generally happy about the place they lived or stayed, describing it as fun. Some children, especially in group care, noted that they would like to have more free time. 聽

Thank you to everyone who has completed our surveys and shared their views with us.

Annex of data figures

Data for figure 1: Do you feel safe where you live or stay?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	Further education (FE) colleges	Supported accommodation
Always	72%	72%	90%	72%	56%	63%	83%
Most of the time	23%	21%	9%	20%	38%	32%	14%
Sometimes	4%	5%	1%	7%	5%	4%	4%
Never	1%	1%	0%	1%	1%	1%	0%
Total respondents	6,995	2,448	1,535	519	1,528	511	454

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 1.

Data for figure 2: Do you get along with the staff where you live or stay?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	FE colleges	Supported accommodation
Always	54%	47%	75%	59%	36%	64%	71%
Most of the time	37%	43%	22%	30%	49%	30%	22%
Sometimes	8%	9%	3%	9%	14%	6%	7%
Never	1%	1%	0%	1%	1%	1%	0%
Total respondents	6,936	2,425	1,520	516	1,517	509	449

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 2.

Data for figure 3: Do you get on with the other children where you live or stay?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	FE colleges	Supported accommodation
Always	35%	29%	53%	34%	24%	32%	55%
Most of the time	47%	44%	37%	46%	64%	51%	30%
Sometimes	15%	23%	7%	19%	12%	15%	10%
Never	2%	4%	2%	1%	1%	1%	5%
Total respondents	6,813	2,375	1,459	515	1,513	509	442

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 3.

Data for figure 4: Do the staff where you live or stay ask you about things that are important to you?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	FE colleges	Supported accommodation
Always	57%	66%	78%	52%	24%	33%	73%
Most of the time	24%	23%	15%	28%	34%	31%	19%
Sometimes	16%	9%	5%	18%	35%	26%	7%
Never	3%	1%	1%	2%	7%	10%	1%
Total respondents	6,916	2,405	1,518	515	1,522	508	448

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 4.

Data for figure 5: Do the staff where you live or stay listen to you?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	FE colleges	Supported accommodation
Always	62%	61%	80%	64%	44%	58%	76%
Most of the time	26%	28%	17%	23%	35%	30%	16%
Sometimes	10%	10%	3%	10%	19%	9%	7%
Never	2%	2%	1%	3%	3%	3%	0%
Total respondents	6,922	2,418	1,522	514	1,512	511	445

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 5.

Data for figure 6: Do you spend time with people who are important to you?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	FE colleges	Supported accommodation
Always	49%	51%	49%	61%	42%	45%	51%
Most of the time	29%	26%	27%	25%	36%	34%	23%
Sometimes	20%	20%	21%	14%	21%	20%	24%
Never	2%	3%	3%	1%	2%	2%	2%
Total respondents	6,917	2,410	1,521	512	1,518	509	447

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 6.

Data for figure 7: In the last week, did you do something fun?

	All children	Children鈥檚 homes (all types)	Foster care	Residential special schools	Boarding schools	FE colleges	Supported accommodation
Yes	89%	92%	96%	91%	82%	84%	83%
No	11%	8%	4%	9%	18%	16%	17%
Total respondents	6,918	2,417	1,511	515	1,515	510	450

^{Children鈥檚 homes (all types) include residential special schools and secure children鈥檚 homes.}

See figure 7.

Footnotes