UK selects Cognitec for facial age estimation in asylum assessments The UK government has selected a vendor for facial age estimation. The £322,000 ($433,745) contract begins on June 1, 2026 and runs for three years. The contract award notice lists established British IT provider Akhter Computers Limited as the main contractor, with biometrics services subcontracted to German facial recognition specialist Cognitec. The award moves facial age estimation from pilot and policy discussions into operational use within the UK’s asylum system. It also places the technology at the center of a contentious debate over migration, children’s rights and the role of AI in government decision-making. The contract comes as the Home Office formally incorporates facial age estimation into its asylum age-assessment framework. Newly published guidance explains how facial age estimation can be used to support immigration officers making initial decisions about whether undocumented arrivals should be treated as children or adults. The document outlines how facial age estimation can be used to classify asylum seekers. “Asylum seekers frequently arrive at the UK border with no official identity documents and so it can sometimes be difficult to know for sure which are children,” it says. “A child might look like an adult when they are not, and vice versa. Adult migrants sometimes claim to be children to prevent their removal and to take advantage of protections designed for minors. Sometimes children say they are adults to avoid being separated from friends. In some cases, a person simply doesn’t know their actual chronological age.” “If there is reason to doubt someone is the age they say they are, immigration officers must make an initial age decision to determine whether to treat them as a child or an adult. Facial age estimation, or FAE, can help the officials whose job it is to make