17% of initial adult decisions later found to be children, with hundreds of cases still pending To accompany new data on age assessments in last week's immigration statistics, the Home Office published a one-off report looking at how many asylum seekers have their age assessed. Image credit: UK GovernmentThe report, which is available here, shows that a significant proportion of asylum seekers initially classified as adults by immigration officials are later determined to be children. The Helen Bamber Foundation notes it is the first time the Home Office has published detailed outcomes on age disputes. Figures in the Home Office report cover the period from July to December 2025. They show that border officials made Initial Age Decisions (IADs) that 1,885 individuals claiming to be minors were adults. Of those, 949 subsequently underwent a full age assessment by a local authority or the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB). To date, 326 of these individuals (17% of the original 1,885) have been confirmed to be children, while 377 cases remain pending. The Home Office noted that the number of people undergoing age assessments has risen sharply in recent years, reaching 6,420 individuals in the year ending March 2026. This means 7% of all asylum claimants were subject to an age assessment, compared to between 1% and 3% annually before 2020. The report attributes this increase to the rise in arrivals via small boats, who are less likely to hold documentation proving their identity. The statistics show a distinct variation in outcomes depending on the assessing body. Between July 2025 and March 2026, 51% of IADs conducted by border officials resulted in an adult classification. In contrast, local authority assessments determined the individual to be an adult in only 28% of cases, finding them to be a child in 68% of instances.