Soft toys, memes and a movie villain: Labor tries to simplify the message but selling a budget isn’t child’s play
Labor faces challenges in explaining its federal budget amid public skepticism.
The Guardian World1 min read
Young asylum seekers far more likely to be assessed as adults by immigration officers than by social workers
TL;DR
Young asylum seekers in the UK are over twice as likely to be assessed as adults by immigration officers compared to social workers. Data shows that only 32% of assessments by immigration officials found individuals to be children, while 68% were identified as children by social workers.
Key points
- Young asylum seekers are assessed as adults more often by immigration officers.
- Only 32% of immigration assessments found individuals to be children.
- Social workers identified 68% of young asylum seekers as children.
- Home Office data reveals discrepancies in age assessments.
- Immigration assessments are made quickly, often with incomplete information.
Young asylum seekers in the UK are more than twice as likely to be assessed as adults by immigration officers than by social workers, according to home office data.
Between July 2025 and March 2026, 4,320 initial age decisions made by immigration officials found just 1,363 new arrivals (32%) to be children.
During the same period, 3,102 age assessments carried out by local authority social workers recorded 1,198 individuals (68%) as children.
The information, which the Home Office is publishing for the first time, comes at a time when some politicians have accused adult asylum seekers of pretending to be children.
The Home Office says that initial assessments by immigration officers are typically made ‘at pace’ often with limited or incomplete information. Local authority age assessments are often conducted over a period of six to eight weeks.
The Home Office has established a national age assessment board (NAAB) with its own in-house social workers to conduct age assessments of age-disputed young asylum seekers. It is proposing strengthening the weight given to its own in-house assessments.
Many children from countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea do not have passports or birth certificates, either because they have never had them, or because they’ve been destroyed, lost or taken.
In thousands of cases, UK border officials decide a person’s age based on a visual assessment of their “appearance and demeanour”. If they think an individual looks significantly over 18, they will move them straight to adult accommodation or immigration detention.
Last year’s report from the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration highlighted a decade of concerns around the Home Office’s “‘perfunctory’ visual assessments”. It found that the Home Office still relied on generic physical characteristics and that young people felt pressured into signing documents stating they were adults.
Some children wrongly treated as adults have been charged with immigration offences, spending periods of time in custody with adults in adult prisons or held in immigration removal centres before being removed to France under the ‘one in, one out’ returns agreement.
Q&A
What percentage of young asylum seekers are assessed as children by immigration officers?
Only 32% of young asylum seekers are assessed as children by immigration officers.
How many age assessments were conducted by social workers between July 2025 and March 2026?
During that period, social workers conducted 3,102 age assessments.
Why are immigration officers more likely to assess young asylum seekers as adults?
Immigration officers often make assessments quickly and with limited information, leading to a higher likelihood of classifying individuals as adults.
What is the time frame for local authority age assessments compared to immigration assessments?
Local authority age assessments typically take six to eight weeks, while immigration assessments are made 'at pace'.
