Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): secure children’s homes
Guidance on how Ofsted inspects secure children's homes.
Updates to this page
- From:
- Ofsted
- Published:
- 22 February 2017
- Last updated:
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1 April 2026
Show all updates
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Minor amends to 'Children’s health' evaluation criteria. Revised section on 'Evaluating the experiences and progress of children'.
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Updated areas of required evidence for ‘The overall experiences and progress of children’, ‘Children’s education and learning experience’ and ‘Children’s health’ sections.
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We have clarified the list of the provider types that the SCCIF applies to, adding ‘Supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17’ in the Introduction section. We have also clarified the content of the inspection report in The inspection report section, the complaints process when a complaint is received about a CQC inspector and several of the questions in sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Annex A. In response to the Big Listen, we have made several changes to the inspection principles, evaluation criteria and sampling criteria that relate to improving placement stability for children and young people.
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Updated ‘Inadequate judgements: next steps’ section – removing the references to contacting the Children’s Commissioner.
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We have clarified the process to raise concerns or complaints during and after an inspection. In ‘The start of the inspection’ section, we have clarified how the provider can request any adaptations to the inspection process due to a protected characteristic, or any reasonable adjustments due to a disability. We have made minor changes to the evaluation criteria and on-site inspection sections to reference non-speaking children.
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This framework has been updated to clarify that, when applying the framework, inspectors will take appropriate action to comply with Ofsted’s Equality Act duties, clarification on the opportunities for providers to discuss and/or provide information on potential equalities duties, including reasonable adjustments for individuals, clarification regarding Ofsted’s updated arrangements for publishing the report, quality assurance and handling concerns and complaints in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process in the timeframe sections, references to Ofsted’s pausing process, minor revisions to the evaluation criteria re children’s health needs, addition of new section on closed cultures and updated section on reporting concerns about the administration and management of controlled drugs.
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Additional guidance on deferring an inspection, inspector conduct during inspections, when and how the provider can raise issues, concerns or complaints during and after the inspection, supporting the well-being of the provider’s managers and staff during inspections and visits, attendance at keeping in touch meetings, discussions with staff and feedback meetings and who the provider may share provisional and final inspection outcomes with.
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Minor revisions made to the ‘Children’s education and learning experience’ evaluation criteria to clarify the relationship between the education inspection framework and the social care common inspection framework.
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Updated the evaluation criteria in the children’s education and learning section, to take into account the particular circumstances and experiences of children. Updated the evaluation criteria to align, where applicable, with other framework changes on children’s progress, the management of risk, the use of restraint and the need to appoint a registered manager, if the post is vacant, within 26 weeks. Small changes to guidance for inspectors on recording evidence in the inspection database, including corrected Annex A's. Added in guidance for the inspector to inform the Children’s Commissioner when the inspection judgement is inadequate.
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Minor edits for clarity in the 'Monitoring visit' section. Revised text referencing the updated 'Ofsted code of conduct' policy.
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Minor change to clarify that we may carry out a monitoring inspection to do a premises check as part of the DfE licence approval process or provide advice about building projects.
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Added inspection guidance for April 2022: replaced interim inspections with assurance inspections and added additional guidance for when inspectors discover possible unregistered provision.
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In ‘The inspection report’ section, added clarification on the non-publication of child-friendly summary reports.
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Removed guidance on assurance visits, as we are no longer carrying these out.
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Added guidance on inspecting secure children’s homes during COVID-19 restrictions. Updated guidance to reflect the changes to Ofsted’s post-inspection processes and complaints handling (including the timeline) that we introduced in September 2020. Minor edits for readability.
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First published.
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Applies to England
Documents
Details
This framework sets out Ofsted’s process for inspecting secure children’s homes.
Our approach is underpinned by the following 3 principles that apply to all social care inspections:
- to focus on the things that matter most to children’s lives
- to be consistent in our expectations of providers
- to prioritise our work where improvement is needed most