Guidance

Apply to register an adoption support agency

Updated 28 November 2025

Applies to England

If you want to apply to register an adoption support agency you must complete a Register a children’s social care service (SC1) form. This guide explains how to complete the form, as someone registering an adoption support agency. It also lists the documents you will need to provide.

Ensure you have read and understood Ofsted’s Adoption support agency policy and guidance before you apply.

Due to the exceptionally high number of applications, it is taking us longer than usual to process new submissions. If you are applying to register, it is likely to be several months before you receive a decision.

To help avoid further delays, please ensure that you provide all required information both at the time of application and throughout the process.

Who needs to fill in the form

The person who needs to fill in the SC1 form depends on the type of provider you are.

Organisations, including limited liability partnerships

To fill out the form, you must be in one of the following roles, or be authorised by someone in one of the following roles:

• a director acting for the company
• an individual performing the same or similar functions as a director
• a partner
• a trustee, director or chairperson acting for a charity or statutory body
• a chairperson or committee member acting for a committee

Partnerships not registered as limited liability partnerships

To fill out the form, you must be one of the partners acting on behalf of all the partners in the partnership.

Individual providers

If you are an individual provider, you must fill out the form yourself.

If you are a group of individuals (not operating as a partnership or company), one of those individuals must fill out the form.

Information you will need to provide 

We will ask for information about the adoption support agency you want to register with Ofsted, and those who will be associated with your service.

You will be asked for:

• your company’s registration details (which must match the details recorded on Companies House)
• your unique reference number (URN) if you have applied to register, or have been registered with Ofsted previously for any type of service
• previous applications and registration details for children’s social care services
• previous applications and registration details for any early years provision
• previous applications and registration details for adult social services
• information about the adoption support agency you want to register
• details of your premises and any offices that you propose to operate from
• the range of fees that you will charge
• the date you plan to open your adoption support agency
• the Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration number, if you hold a registration with CQC
• individuals you want to link to the registration, such as managers
• an original Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for everyone who needs one
• details of a responsible individual who can submit their Apply to be associated with a children’s social care service SC2 form as part of the application

The form asks for a lot of information. It can take several hours to complete. Gather everything you need before you start.

You can save your progress and come back to it later if you do not have all the information. 

Previous Ofsted applications and registrations

If you’ve applied to register any social care or early years provision with Ofsted before, we will need its unique reference number (URN).

Unique reference number

Your URN will be on correspondence regarding the relevant registration, and will follow a certain format: 

• For social care registrations before 2015, the URN starts with SC and has 6 digits, for example SC123456.
• For social care and early years registrations from 2015, the URN is 7 digits, for example 1234567.
• For early years registration before 2015, the URN starts with EY and has 6 digits, for example EY123456

We also need the URN of:

• any holding companies registered with Ofsted
• any registered services in which you have a financial interest

Holding company and subsidiary details

If you have a holding company with subsidiaries registered with Ofsted, you will need to tell us the name, trading start date, URN, address and contact details for each subsidiary.

If your organisation is a subsidiary of a holding company, you must tell us the holding company’s name, trading start date, registered company number (or charity number, if applicable), address, and contact details. You must also tell us about all the other subsidiaries of your holding company.

You must also give us the accounts for the last 2 years for your holding company and all its subsidiaries.

Previous applications and registrations

Ofsted must know about all of your previous applications and registrations for early years or social care children’s services, adult social care services and early years provision.

You will be asked if you have:

• made a previous application
• had a previous application refused
• been registered or licensed to run a service
• had a registration cancelled

If you answer yes to any of those questions, we will request further information.

The information we need about previous applications includes the URN. If you do not have a URN for that service (for example, adult social care services), then you will need to tell us about the type of service, dates of application, reason for the refusal (if relevant) and which public authority dealt with the application.

We also need to know who you registered with, how long the registration was for and the type of service. If you have had a registration cancelled, you need to provide either the URN or details about the service, including dates of registration and why it was cancelled.

Documents required for your application

We cannot accept your application unless you have provided all the documents that we need, and all the people who need to provide an Apply to be associated with a children’s social care service SC2 form have done so.

With the SC1 form, you will need to provide:

• your statement of purpose
• your guide for children, if your agency provides adoption support services to children
• confirmation that your premises has the necessary agreements in place, where applicable
• if the property is mortgaged or leased, proof that you can operate an adoption support agency
• your certificate of insurance or written confirmation that insurance will be provided
• your safeguarding policy
• your complaints procedure
• evidence of financial viability, including your business plan and cash-flow forecast
• if you are registering as a company, your last 2 annual reports and accounts (if available)
• reports for any holding company and any subsidiaries if applicable
• your charitable objects, if applicable
• your partnership agreement (for applications from partnerships)

When you are completing the SC1 or SC2 form, you are required to disclose other information that the Care Standards Act 2000 identifies as relevant to your application. We will also ask to see other policies at different stages of the process, for example during a site visit. 

Statement of purpose 

You must have a unique statement of purpose and children’s guide for each adoption support agency that you are applying to register. Their contents will vary according to the type of agency that you intend to operate. 

The statement of purpose should meet the requirements of the adoption support agency regulations.

We will take the quality of the statement of purpose and children’s guide into account when making our decision about your fitness to practise. 

Children’s guide

If you are intending to provide adoption support services to children, you must include a children’s guide in your application. When creating this, it is important that you have in mind the level of understanding of those who are going to read it. The type of words you use, the pictures you include, and the level of detail you go into should help every child who reads it to understand the important things about your adoption support agency and what they can do to tell you if they think that something is not right.

Premises 

You will need confirmation that any property that you propose to use for the purpose of operating the adoption support agency has the necessary agreements, including, where appropriate, planning permission in place. This could include (but is not limited to):

• for a purpose-built office in a new development: confirmation that the necessary planning permission for the building is in place
• for a serviced and shared office: a copy of the lease that is in place
• for a private property: confirmation that this can be used for the purposes of operating an adoption support agency without any additional permissions, or, if these are necessary, copies of the respective permissions

During the registration visit, the inspector will undertake a short review of the proposed premises. This is to establish whether the proposed location is suitable for what you plan to do and that there are secure arrangements to store records safely.

Home-based services

Many counsellors operate home-based services. When applying to register, it is important that applicants ensure that the service has a designated, confidential space to operate from. This applies to the provision both of counselling sessions and holding any associated records for the service.

Certificate of insurance 

You must get a certificate of insurance for death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss before your agency starts to operate.

We appreciate that some insurers will not provide this until registration is granted. In this case, you must give us written confirmation that you will have a certificate of insurance before you start to operate. If the name and the address of the agency are not included on the certificate, you must prove that it is covered before you start to operate. 

Policies

It is important that the policies you have reflect your statement of purpose and match the needs of the children in your adoption support service.

Policies must follow relevant government guidance but should also be tailored to those who will be using and working in your agency.

Safeguarding policy

This policy should reflect local authority protocols for safeguarding and child protection. It should also explain how to work with the child’s placing authority if there are safeguarding concerns.

It must also explain:

• who is responsible for safeguarding in your organisation
• who manages any concerns raised about the nominated safeguarding lead
• what happens if someone makes an allegation against a member of staff
• what action you will take if a child needs protection

Complaints policy

This policy should explain how:

• staff respond to complaints from children and adults
• complaints are investigated and how long this takes
• people can escalate a complaint if they are not happy with the outcome
• children are involved in the complaints process

Information about any counselling models and therapeutic interventions

This should demonstrate what you propose to offer. It should include evidence of how you have checked the qualifications and experience of any people delivering services for you or on behalf of your adoption support agency.

Information for service users

This should show anything that you will provide for people who want to access adoption records/intermediary services.

Evidence of financial viability

You must include with your application: 

• your business plan
• your cashflow forecast
• your last 2 annual reports, including reports for any holding company and any subsidiaries
• your last 2 annual accounts
• the name and address of the registered or principal office if you are a subsidiary

Business plan 

As a minimum, the business plan should cover: 

• background information
• a financial plan
• an operational plan

Cashflow forecast 

Your cashflow forecast should estimate the projected monthly income and expenditure for the first 12 months of operation. This is simply a summary of the money that is expected to be paid into and out of the adoption support agency, in cash terms, over the period. This is usually broken down into a month-by-month forecast. 

Annual reports and accounts

If you are already operating, you must provide up to the last 2 annual reports and accounts. Where applicable, you should include the annual reports for the holding company and any subsidiaries of that holding company.

New companies do not need to submit annual reports or accounts. 

If relevant, you should provide a copy of any partnership agreement and any charitable objects as set out by the Charities Commission.

Fees

You must pay a children’s social care registration fee as part of your application. Once you have submitted your application and we have all the documents to process it, we will send you an invoice for the fee. This fee is non-refundable.

You must also pay a registration fee for each application for a registered manager, including if there is a new manager during the application process. This applies to registered managers for both a new and an existing adoption support agency.

Once your adoption support agency is registered, you must pay a children’s social care annual fee.

When you apply for a new registration, we always check whether you owe us fees from any previous registrations. We will consider any outstanding fees when assessing your fitness to practise, your integrity and your financial viability to provide a new adoption support agency.

Recommended document file size and formats

You can upload documents in the following formats:

• PDF
• Microsoft Word (.docx)
• Excel (.xlsx)
• PowerPoint (.pptx)
• image file (.jpeg or .png)
• Open Document formats for a word processing document (.odt), a spreadsheet (.ods) or a presentation (.odp)

Documents must not be more than 2 MB in size.

If you need to reduce the size of your documents, try to:

• reduce the size of images before putting them in a document
• remove any unnecessary images
• save a Word document to the latest version of Word or as a PDF document
• save a PDF document to the smallest file option

If you are unable to upload any documents with your application due to format or size, send them via email to sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk. Quote your name and application or submission reference number. Upload a blank Word page to your application with just the date you emailed the documents to Ofsted and the comment: ‘Document emailed to sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk’.

Registration visit and interviews

We will carry out a registration visit for each application. During the visit, we assess the premises and services that you intend to offer and will interview all those associated with the application. An inspector will contact you to discuss whether any reasonable adjustments are required.

Documents required during the inspector’s visit

Before or during the visit, the inspector will ask for specific documents that were not part of your original application. We ask for these to check whether you are ready to operate. You will only have this information, such as staff member details, after we accept your application. We are unlikely to make a decision about your registration without this information. It helps Ofsted judge how well you can care for children and keep them safe.

We will always ask all those associated with the application for the following information during the visit. Inspectors will tell you before they visit whether they expect anything else:

• your original birth certificate for your identity when you were born
• original certified documents relating to each name change you have had since birth
• proof of your address and photographic evidence of your identity, for example a driving licence
• your qualification documents
• the original DBS certificate  for the manager and the responsible individual

If you have changed your name, Ofsted will want to see a clear audit trail of those changes and your original birth certificate. 

This is an important part of our safeguarding role. If it will be difficult for you to provide original documents, you must tell us as soon as possible so that we can help you to resolve the problem.

Staffing and recruitment

We will need to see that you have enough staff with the right experience and qualifications to fulfil your regulatory function. We will ask to see some personnel files so we can check your recruitment practice. We do not expect a full staff team to be in place, but there must be enough staff for your agency to open and be ready to support your first service users.

You must have available all recruitment records for the staff you have recruited before the registration visit, including those of the proposed manager and, where applicable, the responsible individual. If you normally hold these records elsewhere, you must arrange for them to be available at the registration visit.

Training and development

You should have a training and development plan ready that outlines:

• staff induction – how new staff are introduced to your agency, its policies, and their roles
• supervision arrangements – how staff will be supported, monitored, and guided in their work

Business development plan

We will look at and discuss your business development plan, including your contingencies for recruitment and managing staff vacancies.

Registration visit

The inspector will:

• ask whether any reasonable adjustments are required before each visit
• read and discuss, as necessary, the documentation you have provided
• interview people in certain roles of responsibility
• assess and evaluate all the information we have gathered

After the interviews, the inspector will go over with you: 

• a summary of the evidence that they have collected
• the proposed conditions of registration
• what happens next
• whether you need to submit further information, or further interviews are required

If you are proposing to operate virtually, the registration visit will still take place face to face. This will usually be at an Ofsted regional office unless you make an alternative suitable space available. 

Registration interviews

Interviews may take place on different days, and we will arrange them with each individual concerned. Inspectors will usually interview both the proposed manager and the appointed responsible individual, even if the responsible individual has been interviewed by us before.

Interviews are an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills, expertise and knowledge for your role. The interview will draw out your experience and values base to see how you will use these to provide your service.

Responsible individuals’ interviews

The interview will cover the responsible individual’s knowledge and understanding of:

• the adoption support agency regulations for the role of the responsible individual
• safeguarding and child protection
• the law and guidance in relation to adoption support agencies
• the skills, knowledge and ability to carry on the adoption support agency in a way that promotes both good practice and continuous improvement
• the business and management skills required to supervise the agency
• the financial skills and expertise required to ensure long-term financial viability
• the capacity to carry out regular evaluation of the quality of care provided

We will explore and assess how they will exercise their responsibilities, for example how the responsible individual will:

• maintain regular and effective oversight of the agency
• promote best outcomes for children and adults accessing the services
• consult with children, their families (where applicable) and adult service users and represent their views to the manager and provider
• be available for Ofsted to discuss regulation 24 notifications and
• national minimum standard 25
• inform and discuss with Ofsted any referrals made under the ‘Prevent’ duty
• be available for feedback on an inspection
• inform Ofsted when the manager will be absent for more than 28 days or leaves

If you are registered as an individual provider, and there is no registered manager, you are required to have the same qualifications as the manager.

Managers’ interviews

Managers must demonstrate that they have the skills to lead, manage and improve an adoption support agency and that the agency has the capacity and capability to meet the required quality standards.

When enquiring about management skills, we explore and assess the manager’s experience and skills in:

• supervising others who are carrying out a support role
• delivering performance management
• safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and taking appropriate action to protect them
• building relationships with children, their parents and adult service users
• taking into account the views of children, their parents and adult service users
• setting out and using quality assurance systems to drive improvement
• understanding and managing risk
• understanding the statement of purpose for the agency
• understanding how to meet the regulations and national minimum standards

When enquiring about skills in providing adoption support, we explore and assess the manager’s experience and skills in:

• understanding the needs of the children and adults who will access the services
• understanding the range of services that the agency will provide
• understanding the skills and knowledge required to support children and adults using the service
• understanding the specialist nature of adoption support
• ensuring that there are adequate systems in place to oversee staff
• ensuring that staff are suitably trained and experienced to undertake these roles
• identifying and minimising risk and helping children and adults to make progress

Managers’ qualifications and experience

Managers must:

• have a qualification in management at least at level 4
• have had at least 2 years’ experience relevant to adoption within the past 5 years
• have at least one year’s experience of supervising and managing professional staff

The manager must also hold one of the following qualifications or professional registrations:

• a recognised social work qualification, or a professional qualification, at least at level 4, relevant to working in an adoption setting (or children services where the agency provides services to children)

• a member (MBACP) or Accredited Member (MBACP Accred) of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), or is chartered by or registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), or the United Kingdom Register for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (UKRCP)

• registered as an Arts, Drama or Music Therapist or as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health Professions Council for England and Wales (HPC)

If you appoint an individual to the post of manager and they have no management qualifications, they must:

• enrol on a management training course within 6 months
• obtain a relevant management qualification within 3 years of appointment

We will consider relevant experience outside adoption support. This can include work in a voluntary or local authority adoption service. We expect the manager to show how their experience meets the minimum 2 years’ experience relevant to adoption support.

If their experience is not relevant to adoption support, they must show how their experience will help them to do this job and effectively manage an adoption support agency.

Changes to your application

During the registration process, you must tell us straight away if there are changes to any of the details in your application.

If you want to make changes to your application before we have granted registration, you must write to tell us about changes to:

• the name or address of the proposed provider, responsible individual or manager
• the person who is applying to be the provider, responsible individual or manager
• the members of a partnership
• a director or any other person who has submitted an SC2 form
• the conditions that you are applying to register

If these changes involve a new person in one of the above roles, they will need to fill in an SC2 form. If your application has already progressed to stage 3, it will go back to stage 2 until we have received the new forms. In these cases, we will hold the application at stage 2 for 12 weeks from the point when the initial applicant withdrew, to give you time to find a replacement.

After this, we may return your application to you because we are unable to make a decision if there are no suitable applicants to consider. This will not affect any future application that you may make. You will need to begin the application process again, including paying the relevant fee.

What happens next

When you apply online to register an adoption support agency, you will get a submission reference number. This is 14 characters and includes numbers, hyphens and uppercase letters, for example ABCD-1234-1234. This reference number will be on the email sent to you, confirming that your application has been accepted.

All managers, responsible individuals or partners linked to the adoption support agency must tell Ofsted about themselves separately by completing an SC2 form. You will need to provide them with your submission reference number so they can complete their application forms. Your application to register an adoption support agency is not complete until all application forms are completed. We will get in touch if we have any questions.

Questions about your application

We know that your application is very important to you, and sometimes you want to speak to us to ask us for an update.

If you have questions and are unable to find the answers on the Adoption support agency guidance pages at the start of your application, contact sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk. The subject line must say: ‘Social care application’. Provide your full name and reference number for someone to contact you.

Once we have sent your application to our regional team, an inspector will be allocated to your application. They will speak to you and let you know how to contact them.

You are responsible for supplying us with full, correct and suitable information to support your application. 

It is an offence under the Care Standards Act 2000 to provide a false or misleading statement in an application.