Amendments

Section 3, Security and Retention of Records was updated in Match 2026 in light of the Records of Adopted and Care-experienced People - Good Practice Guidance for Record-keepers and Care Professionals (England and Wales) Guidance - published February 2024 which recommends that Adoption records where an Adoption Order is made should now have for "good practice" minimum retention of 125 years (date of birth + 125 years this was previously 100 years) or for "exemplary practice" for 150 years, or best practice would be permanent preservation/retention.

In March 2026, information was added in Section 3, Examples of Adoption Support to highlight that the DfE has extended the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund initially until March 2027, with a new fair access limit of £3000.

In March 2025, information with details on how to request information about an applicant from Ofsted was added to Section 3, Stage One-The Pre-Assessment Process. A link was added to the Disclosure and Barring Service Guidance Leaflets (GOV.UK) in Related Guidance.

Section 4.2, Procedural Fairness was updated in March 2025 in line with case-law.

This chapter was updated in March 2025 with a link to DBS guidance leaflets (GOV.UK) in Section 4.4, Concluding the Investigation.