Introduction

Our annual online surveys are an opportunity for children, parents, staff, foster carers, adopters and professionals to share their views with us about the providers that they are involved with.

We use the survey responses, along with other information that we have, such as previous inspection findings, to decide when to inspect and what to focus on when we do. The results also help us to identify possible safeguarding issues and to build a national picture of people’s experiences.

This year’s online surveys

Our 2025 online surveys are open between Tuesday 4 February and Sunday 23 March 2025. These are for the following providers:

• adoption agencies (includes voluntary adoption agencies and regional adoption agencies)
• adoption support agencies
• boarding schools
• children’s homes (includes secure children’s homes and residential special schools registered as children’s homes)
• fostering agencies (includes independent fostering agencies and local authority fostering services)
• further education colleges with residential provision
• residential family centres
• residential special schools
• supported accommodation

We will circulate the survey links to (as appropriate):

• registered managers/registered service managers
• nominated persons/responsible individuals
• directors of children’s services
• nominated contacts for regional adoption agencies

We ask that you distribute the links to the relevant audiences on our behalf. This is because we do not hold data on those people that live or stay, work in, support or are associated with the setting.

Distributing the survey links

On Tuesday 4 February 2025, each provider registered with and/or inspected by us will receive an email containing a set of links that are unique to their provision.

The email will set out which audiences should receive each unique link, for example children, staff, parents/carers or external professionals. You should send out these links to the relevant audience types for your provision.

For providers with multiple establishments, agencies, schools or colleges, you should only send individuals the link that they require, rather than all of the links, to avoid confusion.

Regional adoption agencies will need to distribute the links to the relevant audience types for all of the local authorities that make up their regional adoption agency.

This guidance explains which groups of people fall under the audience categories.

Social care surveys 2025

Adoption support agency surveys

Adults receiving adoption support

This survey is for adults who are currently receiving adoption support, help with accessing birth records (birth records counselling) or intermediary services from the adoption agency, or have received this in the last 12 months.

Staff

This survey is for all staff, including volunteers and staff employed through an agency.

External professionals

This survey is for:

• commissioners who have commissioned support from the agency within the past 12 months
• local authority social workers who are currently working with children receiving adoption support from the agency, or who have worked with children receiving support from the agency in the past 12 months

Boarding school (boarding provision) surveys

Boarders

This survey is for all boarders at the school. You may support any child to complete the survey. There is a section below on how you can support children.

Parents and carers

This survey is for the parents and carers of all boarders at the school.

Residential staff

This survey is for the residential staff at the school.

Children’s home and secure children’s home surveys

Children staying in a children’s home or receiving short breaks in a children’s home

This survey is for all children who are currently staying in the home or are receiving short breaks at the home. You may support any child to complete the surveys. There is a section below on how you can support children.

Parents and carers

This survey is for parents and carers whose children currently stay in the children’s home or who visit the home for short breaks.

For children who stay in the home, you should only ask their parents if family contact is agreed in the child’s placement plan.

Staff

This survey is for all staff, including volunteers and staff employed by an agency.

External professionals

This survey is for:

• independent reviewing officers
• children’s social workers who have had a child placed at the home in the last 12 months
• youth offending teams
• other interested parties, for example looked-after children nurses, GPs, other health professionals, advocates, family court advisers, teachers or virtual school headteachers

Further education college (residential provision) surveys

Students

This survey is for students who are living in residential provision on the college site or organised by the college with a host family.

Parents and carers

This survey is for the parents and carers of students who are living in residential provision on the college site or organised by the college with a host family.

Residential staff

This survey is for the residential care staff at the college.

Local authority adoption services, regional adoption agencies and voluntary adoption agency surveys

People who want to or have adopted

This survey is for people who have started the assessment process to be an adopter within the last 12 months and people who are already an approved adopter awaiting a placement or have a child placed with them.

Adults receiving adoption support

This survey is for adults who are currently receiving adoption support, help with accessing birth records (birth records counselling) or intermediary services from the adoption agency, or have received these in the last 12 months.

Staff (including panel members)

This survey is for all staff, including volunteers and staff employed through an agency. It is also for panel members, including the panel chair.

External professionals

This survey is for:

• independent reviewing officers
• children’s social workers who have a child placed with adopters from the agency or who have a child linked with prospective adopters from the agency (or have done so in the last 12 months)
• partner agencies, for example health professionals, teachers, virtual school headteachers, solicitors, children’s guardian ad litem (Cafcass employees who speak in the best interests of children in court), family court advisers, looked-after children nurses, GPs and other health professionals

Local authority fostering services and independent fostering agency surveys

Children

This survey is for all children who, at the time of the survey, are living with foster carers or in kinship care or are receiving short breaks with foster carers. You may support any child to complete the surveys. There is a section below on how you can support children.

Parents and carers whose children are fostered or who have short breaks (respite care) with foster carers

This survey is for parents and carers whose children currently live with a foster carer or who visit a foster carer for short breaks.

For children who live with their foster carer, you should only ask their parents if family contact is agreed in the child’s placement plan.

Approved foster carers, kinship foster carers and people who are being assessed to be foster carers

This survey is for approved foster carers, those who provide kinship foster care and those who are going through the assessment process to become an approved foster carer.

Staff (including panel members)

This survey is for all staff, including volunteers and staff employed through an agency. It is also for panel members, including the panel chair.

External professionals

This survey is for independent reviewing officers and children’s social workers who have had a child placed with the fostering agency in the last 12 months.

Residential family centre surveys

Parents

This survey is for parents who are currently staying at the centre or any parents who stayed at the centre in the past 12 months.

Staff and professionals

This survey is for all staff, including volunteers and staff employed through an agency.

External professionals

This survey is for:

• commissioners who have commissioned a place at the centre in the past 12 months
• social workers who are currently working with families staying at the centre, or who have worked with families at the centre in the past 12 months (including children’s social workers as well as social workers for parents)
• health professionals who are currently working with the centre, or who worked with the centre in the past 12 months. This includes, for example, GPs, health visitors, psychologists and child and adolescent mental health workers
• agencies and other professionals, such as the courts, solicitors, education professionals and probation, who are currently working with the centre, or who worked with the centre in the past 12 months

Residential special school (residential provision) surveys

Residential pupils

This survey is for all residential pupils at the school. You may support any child to complete the surveys. There is a section below on how you can support children.

Parents and carers

This survey is for the parents and carers of all residential pupils at the school.

Residential staff

This survey is for the residential care staff at the school.

Supported accommodation

Children and young people

This survey is for all children and young people who are currently staying in supported accommodation. You can ask for support to complete the survey if you would like to.

External professionals

This survey is for:

• independent reviewing officers

• commissioners who have commissioned a place at the accommodation in the past 12 months

• children’s social workers who have had a young person placed in the accommodation in the last 12 months

• youth offending teams

• other interested parties, for example looked-after children nurses, GPs, other health professionals, advocates, family court advisers, teachers or virtual school headteachers, other professionals involved in the young person’s support package

Further information

Supporting children to take part in the survey

Unfortunately, we are not able to produce our annual surveys using optional communication systems. This is because there are a very large number of systems in various formats, including visual, tactile, picture or object-based and written systems. The survey system that we use cannot create sufficiently varied, appropriately accessible formats in the right versions to ensure that all children receive a survey in a format that suits their preferred communication style.

We ask people who care for the children to do what they can to help them take part in the survey. You will know best how each child prefers to communicate.

We have developed our survey to make sure it is as accessible as it can be within the system we use. For example:

• the survey contains audio for each question
• the questions are compatible with a wide range of screen reading systems
• the questions are simple so that they can be translated into each child’s preferred communication systems by those who care for them
• we have added emojis to each response choice to help children better understand what they mean
• we have redesigned the survey to make it brighter and more inviting for children

We can send word versions of the survey. These can be completed in the child’s preferred language or system if they prefer. We will then translate their responses.

Please see how to request word versions in the survey email.

Thank you to all providers for supporting the survey by helping to distribute the links on our behalf.

If you are a provider and you have any questions about this year’s online surveys, you should call our general helpline on 0300 123 1231 or email us at socialcarepitsurvey@ofsted.gov.uk.