Guidance
Children looked after return 2026 to 2027: technical specifications
Data submission specifications for the children looked after (CLA) return for 2026 to 2027.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This is technical information about submitting and validating data for the children looked after data return (also known as SSDA903) for the year 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
It is for:
- suppliers creating management information software (MIS) for local authorities
- users of local authority MIS software
The information includes:
- a summary of the data items we collect in the return
- an explanation of formats for submitting the data
- a list of validation checks applied to the data return
A guide for local authorities, with detailed explanations of what information to include for each data item, is also available.
Updates to this page
Published 5 November 2025