Ofsted Annex A: What Children's Homes Need to Provide at Inspection

Homes with organised records can complete Annex A within an hour. Homes without them lose the first morning of their inspection chasing figures. This guide walks through what Ofsted's data requirements in Annex A actually are, section by section, where homes most often get caught out, and how to keep the information ready all year.

What is Annex A?

Its full name is "Annex A: Request for information at a full inspection of a children's home". It's Ofsted's standard form for collecting facts and figures about the home at the start of a full inspection.

Unless a question says otherwise, everything on the form covers the period since your last full inspection. Some questions ask only about the children and staff in the home on the day.

There are separate versions for secure children's homes, residential special schools, supported accommodation and residential family centres. Ofsted update the forms on GOV.UK, usually each April, so always check you're working from the current one.

What Ofsted ask for, section by section

Information about children

• Children who came to live at the home, and children who left
• Whether you gave any local authority less than 36 hours' notice to end a placement, and why
• Incidents of restraint, and how many children were involved
• Missing episodes, and how many children went missing
• Children currently at risk of, or subject to, sexual or criminal exploitation
• Complaints from children and from others
• Whether the home ran below capacity for four weeks or more in the past year, and why

Safeguarding

• Allegations against staff, and how many children and staff were involved
• Sanctions or consequences given, and to how many children
• Child protection referrals, including referrals about radicalisation
• Children subject to a deprivation of liberty order

Missing episodes and police call-outs

• A row for every child who has gone missing, with the number of episodes and how many times the local authority offered a return-home interview
• Every police call-out to manage behaviour, with whether the child was arrested or convicted, plus updates on any outcomes that were "not yet known" at the last inspection

Staffing

• The registered manager's Level 5 (or Level 4) qualification
• New staff and leavers in care roles
• How many times agency or other non-permanent staff were used, and how many different people that was
• Permanent and part-time staff, Level 3 qualification status under Regulation 32, valid first aid, and current vacancies

Education and health

• For each child: their education provision, planned and actual hours if under 25 a week, the date of their last PEP or EHC plan review, and whether you hold an up-to-date care plan
• Access to health care and dentists, staff health training, how you make sure medication is given accurately, and any action taken after a medication error

Dates, checks and key people

• When you last updated your statement of purpose and children's guide, and which policies you've updated
• Your last location assessment, gas safety certificate, health and safety checks, fire risk assessment review and fire drill, plus when your employers' liability insurance runs to
• Contact details of the key people for each child: social worker, independent reviewing officer, school and others

Where homes get caught out

• Counting the wrong thing. The form separates "how many times" from "how many people". Agency use is a good example: one agency worker covering ten shifts counts once in one question and ten times in the other. Ofsted's guidance at the end of the form explains each counting rule.
• Numbers that don't match the records. Inspectors sample your incident logs, missing records and complaints. If your Annex A says six restraints and the log shows eight, that becomes a line of enquiry.
• Gaps in missing-episode records. Many homes record the episode but not whether the local authority offered a return-home interview.
• Police outcomes left open. Call-outs marked "not yet known" at your last inspection need an update this time.
• Out-of-date dates. An old fire drill, a statement of purpose that hasn't been reviewed, or an expired insurance certificate are easy to spot on the form.
• Education details for each child. PEP review dates and actual hours of education often sit with the school or local authority, so they take longest to gather.

How to keep Annex A ready all year

The best approach is never to start from scratch. A few habits make day one of an inspection straightforward:

• Keep a running tally of restraints, missing episodes, complaints, allegations and sanctions, rather than counting back over months.
• Log every police call-out and return-home interview offer as it happens, and update the outcome when you hear it.
• Keep one compliance calendar for fire drills, gas safety, health and safety checks, insurance and statement of purpose reviews.
• Track staff qualifications, start dates and agency shifts in one place, so the staffing section is a quick count.
• Check your figures against your latest Regulation 45 review and Regulation 44 reports. They should tell the same story.
• Do a practice run every quarter: fill in the form from your records and time how long it takes.

Annex A questions

When do you have to provide Annex A?

Inspectors ask for it at the start of a full inspection, so have the information ready to complete on day one.

What period does Annex A cover?

Unless a question says otherwise, the period since your last full inspection. Some questions only ask about children and staff in the home at the time of inspection.

Is there a different Annex A for supported accommodation?

Yes. Supported accommodation, secure children's homes, residential special schools and residential family centres each have their own version on GOV.UK.

How OVcare helps with Annex A

OVcare is care management software built for UK children's homes. Its Annex A report pulls together the figures from the records your team already keeps in OVcare, such as incidents, restraints, missing episodes, complaints and staff, for whatever date range you choose.

You still check the figures and complete the parts that sit outside your records, like education details from schools. But instead of counting back through months of paperwork on the first morning of an inspection, you start from a report built from your own records.

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Sources: Ofsted, Annex A: Request for information at a full inspection of a children's home (current form, GOV.UK); The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulations 28 and 32.

This guide is provided for general information for care providers and does not constitute legal or regulatory advice. It reflects the Annex A form for children's homes in England in use in November 2026. Always check the current form and guidance on GOV.UK.