The Adoption and Special Guardianship Quarterly Data Collection, published by Coram i for the Department for Education (DfE), shows that waiting times have lengthened significantly, particularly for older or disabled children, as fewer people come forward to adopt.
Rising Wait Times and Falling Adopter Numbers
As of 30 June 2025, 2,940 children with a placement order were waiting to be matched with a family, up from 2,020 three years earlier, a 45.5 per cent rise. Over the same period, the number of approved adopters fell from 2,480 to 1,420, a decline of 42.7 per cent.
Children with a placement order now wait an average of 292 days (almost 10 months) to be placed with an adoptive family, up from 187 days in 2022/23. For children aged five and over, the wait is even longer, an average of 508 days, while disabled children wait around 444 days.
The number of children waiting 18 months or more has risen to 410, most of them considered harder to place, including sibling groups, disabled children and those from non white ethnic minorities.
Adoption Rates Fall Amid Cost of Living Crisis
The DfE data reveals that councils and courts are placing fewer children for adoption. The number of placement orders fell by 15 per cent in the first quarter of 2025/26 compared to the same period the previous year.
Adoption England, which supports regional adoption agencies, said that the cost of living crisis has made fewer people feel financially able to adopt. “More children are now facing delays of over 18 months before being matched with a family,” a spokesperson said.
Campaign Challenges Myths About Adoption
To address the decline, Adoption England has launched a new You Can Adopt campaign encouraging people from all walks of life to consider adoption.
A survey of 502 adoptive parents found that 86 per cent worried they needed a perfect home to adopt, but in reality, 41 per cent lived in homes with two or fewer bedrooms and 65 per cent had no garden.
Children’s minister Josh MacAlister said: “You do not need to live in a big, expensive house, you just need to give a child the love and support they need.”
Post Adoption Support Cuts Deepen Pressure
Meanwhile, Adoption UK’s Adoption Barometer 2024 revealed that 42 per cent of adoptive families experienced severe strain last year, with 65 per cent reporting violent or aggressive behaviour from children, both figures up year on year.
Campaigners blame cuts to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), which was reduced by the government in April. Funding caps for therapy were lowered from £5,000 to £3,000 per child, and match funding for more expensive treatment packages was scrapped.
Research by Action Against ASGSF Changes found that families were struggling to access therapy and that children’s mental health was deteriorating as a result.
Charities Call for Revival of National Adoption Register
Charity Coram, which operates the Ambitious for Adoption regional agency, called for the government to reinstate the National Adoption Register, scrapped in 2019.
Chief executive Carol Homden said: “Children waiting with a placement order are very young and cannot afford delay or compromise. Trust and confidence in lifelong support for adoptive families is crucial.”
Homden added that the register had previously matched thousands of children with complex needs to loving homes and urged courts to keep their faith in the role of adoption in the continuum of care.
Policy Shifts and Court Delays Also Cited
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) noted that the government’s current social care reforms emphasise keeping children within their birth families.
President Rachael Wardell said: “Adoption can be the right thing for some children, but it is not suitable for every child. The direction of policy is to help more children stay with their families. However, for those where adoption is right, the current court delays must be addressed so that every child can be assured of a loving home.”
