Children in foster care give the most positive answers in Ofsted's 2026 survey

Ofsted has published the results of its 2026 children's social care questionnaires, the yearly online survey it sends to children and adults connected with children's homes, fostering and adoption services, supported accommodation, residential family centres, boarding schools, residential special schools and further education colleges with residential provision in England. The survey ran for seven weeks, from 2 February to 22 March 2026, and the report was published on 29 October.

Ofsted received 46,900 responses across all the groups it surveyed, of which 8,360 came from children, down from 8,880 in 2025. Across every setting, 96% of children said they feel safe where they live or stay, 91% said they feel listened to always or most of the time, and 77% said they spend time with people who are important to them.

Children living with foster carers stood out. Ofsted says they reported overwhelmingly positive experiences across all of its questions, and they were the group most likely to say they feel safe always, at 92%. Some 98% said the people looking after them listen to them always or most of the time, and 95% gave positive answers when asked whether they are asked about things that matter to them, the highest of any setting alongside supported accommodation.

Children in foster care were also the most likely to say they get on with the other children in the household, at 92%, up from 88% in 2025 and close to the 91% recorded in 2024. And 96% said they had done something fun in the previous week, the highest rate of any setting and unchanged for three years. The one area with more room to improve was time with important people: in Ofsted's tables, 53% of children in foster care said they always spend time with people who matter to them and 28% said most of the time.

Ofsted uses the answers, together with earlier inspection findings and other information, to decide when to inspect a service and what to focus on. Trained staff read responses as they arrive and pass any safeguarding concern straight to inspectors. The report notes that not every child in a fostering setting is looked after, as some are receiving short breaks. Answers from adults, including foster carers and kinship carers, are published separately as data rather than in the report.

For anyone thinking about fostering, the survey is a reminder of what carers are already giving children day to day: a safe home, someone who listens, and ordinary family life. Around two in three looked-after children in England live with foster carers, according to the report, and the government has set a goal of creating 10,000 more foster places over this Parliament. Ofsted runs the survey every year, so current carers whose fostering service is asked to take part can encourage the children they look after to have their say.