We help you plan the home, prepare your Statement of Purpose, policies and guides, rehearse your fit person interviews and get ready for the registration visit. Everything is written around the young people you will look after.
Planning Domiciliary Care, Supported Living or a Care Home instead? That is CQC registration.
Children's Homes and 16+ Supported Accommodation are registered under different regulations. The first job is making sure you apply for the right one.
Homes where children live and are cared for. Ofsted registers each home against the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and its nine Quality Standards, so the property, the location and your staffing all have to fit the children you plan to care for.
Accommodation with support for looked-after young people and care leavers aged 16 and 17. It has been registrable with Ofsted since October 2023, under four Quality Standards, and it must not include care. Getting that line right is central to the application.
Ofsted is deciding whether children and young people will be safe and well looked after from the day they arrive. Your application has to answer four things convincingly.
Which children or young people you will look after, their needs, how you will meet them and where. Your guides, policies and staffing all have to agree with it.
Your Registered Manager and Responsible Individual must be fit to lead the service. For a Children's Home, Ofsted looks closely at the manager's residential childcare experience and qualifications.
Ofsted assesses the premises and the area around them. A Children's Home needs a location risk assessment and the right planning position before it can be registered.
Policies, records and routines that show how you will keep children safe, support their education and health, and give them a real say in their care.
Six stages, agreed at the start and tracked with you throughout. Choose a stage to see who does what.
Stage 1 of 6
We confirm whether you need a Children's Home or 16+ Supported Accommodation, check your plans for gaps and agree a fixed fee and timeline in writing.
Your part
Tell us about the young people you want to support, your property plans and who will lead the service.
Our part
Confirm the right registration, flag anything that could hold you back and set out the plan in writing.
Stage 2 of 6
The home has to suit the children it will look after. We help you test the property, the area and your staffing model before you commit to them.
Your part
Secure the property and check its planning position with your local planning authority.
Our part
Write the location risk assessment, business plan and workforce plan, and advise on staffing ratios and recruitment.
Stage 3 of 6
Your Statement of Purpose, a full policy set and the guides for children and young people, written around your home rather than taken from a template.
Your part
Review the drafts and tell us how the home will really run day to day.
Our part
Write every document against the Quality Standards and walk you through each one so you can explain it to an inspector.
Stage 4 of 6
You apply through your own Ofsted account. We complete the provider and manager applications with you, section by section.
Your part
Set up your Ofsted account, complete DBS checks and health declarations, and make the declarations.
Our part
Check every answer against your documents so the application tells one consistent story.
Stage 5 of 6
Ofsted interviews your proposed Registered Manager and Responsible Individual. Mock interviews make sure they walk in prepared.
Your part
Attend the mock interviews and practise the areas we flag.
Our part
Run realistic interviews based on your home and the Quality Standards, with written feedback.
Stage 6 of 6
An inspector visits the home before registration. We prepare you and the property and help with every query until a decision is made.
Your part
Have the home ready, host the visit and answer the inspector's questions.
Our part
Walk the home with you beforehand, prepare your answers and plan your first months of operation.
Tick what you already have in place. Nothing is sent anywhere; this is just for you.
Tick what you already have in place to see where you stand.
Still to sort before you apply
Wherever you are, a discovery call turns this list into a plan for your Ofsted registration.
Book a discovery callA fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work starts. Ofsted fees, DBS checks and other third-party costs are paid separately.
Ofsted alone decides whether to register you. No consultant can guarantee the outcome, and we will never claim to.
Still unsure what applies to you? Ask us directly.
No. Carrying on or managing a Children's Home without Ofsted registration is an offence under section 11 of the Care Standards Act 2000, and that remains the case while your application is being processed. Placements can only start once you are registered.
Yes. Since October 2023, providers of supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17 must be registered with Ofsted and meet the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. The accommodation can offer support but not care. If the young people need care, the setting has to be registered as a Children's Home.
Ofsted cannot register a Children's Home without the appropriate planning permission. Whether a change of use is needed depends on the property and the local planning authority, so check early, before you sign a lease or buy.
The Registered Manager needs substantial experience of working with children in residential childcare, including in a supervisory role, and the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare or an equivalent, which can sometimes be completed after appointment. Ofsted tests this at the fit person interview, so we look at your manager's background at the very start.
Ofsted sets its own timescales and they vary with demand. We give you current expectations at your discovery call and make sure your side of the process is never the reason for a delay.
Yes. Ofsted updated its inspection framework for children's homes in April 2026 and has consulted on new report cards. We keep your documents and interview preparation aligned with the version in force when you apply.
Tell us about the home you are planning and we will tell you what it takes.
