Guidance

Register a residential family centre: guidance for applicants

How to register with Ofsted and apply to open, manage, or be associated with a residential family centre.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

This guidance explains the policies and registration requirements Ofsted uses to assess your application to run a residential family centre. It also outlines what to expect after your residential family centre is registered.

Updates to this page

Published 12 April 2012
Last updated 28 November 2025 show all updates
  1. Residential family centres guidance updated. The guidance is now organised into 4 clear sections: - Residential family centre registration policy - Apply to register a residential family centre - Apply to be associated with a residential family centre - Responsibilities of providers and managers in Ofsted-registered residential family centres

  2. Removed the need for a financial reference, following a change in legislation.

  3. Revised throughout for clarity.

  4. Updated to reflect the June 2016 amendments to the inspection framework.

  5. Updated to reflect the current inspection framework.

  6. First published.

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