More information about the data

Number of children waiting to be placed for adoption

  1. This refers to the number of children with an adoption decision but not yet moved in with an adoptive family (single people or couples) as at 30 September 2015
  2. Local authority figures are rounded to the nearest 5 children; national and regional figures rounded to the nearest 10
  3. Data source: LA adoption agency returns to the Adoption Leadership Board and published by DfE
  4. Some data may be suppressed due to low numbers (and is replaced by the phrase ‘5 or fewer’)

Number of adopters approved and approved within 6 months

  1. Prospective adopters (single people or couples) who were approved to adopt between 1 April 2015 and 3o September 2015 and those approved within 6 months of registration.
  2. A date for both registration and approval needs to have been returned for inclusion in the ‘approved within 6 months analysis’.
  3. A date for both approval and match needs to have been returned for inclusion in the ‘matched within 6 months analysis’.
  4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
  5. Data source: LA and VAA adoption agency returns to the Adoption Leadership Board and published by DfE
  6. Some data may be suppressed due to low numbers and replaced with ‘5 or fewer’, ‘some’ or ‘many’
  7. Adopters have been excluded from the approval timeliness if they were missing approval dates or were fast tracked adopters without Stage 1 start dates.
  8. Figures for Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington are combined to represent Adoption North London consortium figures. Figures for Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster are combined to represent Tri-borough consortium figures.

Number of adopters matched and matched in less than 3 months

  1. The number of adopters (single people or couples) who were matched with a child or children between1 April 2015 and 3o September 2015 and those matched within 3 months of approval.
  2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
  3. Data source: LA and VAA adoption agency returns to the Adoption Leadership Board and published by DfE.
  4. Some data may be suppressed due to low numbers and replaced with ‘5 or fewer’, ‘some’ or ‘many’
  5. Adopters have been excluded from the matching timeliness if they were missing match dates.
  6. Figures for Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington are combined to represent Adoption North London consortium figures. Figures for Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster are combined to represent Tri-borough consortium figures.

Child’s journey through adoption

  1. This illustrates the key stages of the child’s journey from entering care to an adoption court order with average times based on children who were adopted over the year from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015
  2. Figures are rounded to the nearest month. Total may not be equal to the sum of breakdowns due to rounding.
  3. Data source: DfE annual SFR34/2015 data