Editing Openai/691bbc38-c6e4-8005-ad7b-dc758785f522 (section)

=== Assistant: Short answer: The data are patchy, but what we do know shows that age disputes in the UK happen often and with substant… ===
Short answer: The data are patchy, but what we do know shows that age disputes in the UK happen often and with substantial error-rates. I’ll walk you through the numbers and caveats—because it’s messy.

==== Here are some key figures: ====
* According to a briefing from Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium (RMCC) in 2024: in 2023 over 3,400 unaccompanied children sought asylum in the UK. Refugee Migrant Children's Consortium<ref>{{cite web|title=Refugee Migrant Children's Consortium|url=https://refugeechildrensconsortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/RMCC-Briefing-Age-Disputes-September-2024.pdf|publisher=Refugee Migrant Children's Consortium|access-date=2025-11-18}}</ref>
* Over an 18-month span (Jan 2022–Jun 2023), at least 1,300 individuals who claimed to be children were initially assessed by the Home Office as adults. Refugee Migrant Children's Consortium<ref>{{cite web|title=Refugee Migrant Children's Consortium|url=https://refugeechildrensconsortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/RMCC-Briefing-Age-Disputes-September-2024.pdf|publisher=Refugee Migrant Children's Consortium|access-date=2025-11-18}}</ref>
* In 2024 alone, data from 90 local authorities showed 1,335 referrals of young people claiming to be children but placed in adult accommodation/detention. Of the 1,221 whose age‐assessment decisions were completed, 56% were later found to be children (i.e., they’d been wrongly treated as adults). helenbamber.org<ref>{{cite web|title=helenbamber.org|url=https://www.helenbamber.org/resources/reportsbriefings/serious-safeguarding-scandal-new-data-shows-hundreds-child-refugees|publisher=helenbamber.org|access-date=2025-11-18}}</ref>
* The inspection report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) notes that many initial age decisions by Home Office officials are overturned by local authority assessments. GMIAU<ref>{{cite web|title=GMIAU|url=https://gmiau.org/icibi-ai-age-assessments/|publisher=gmiau.org|access-date=2025-11-18}}</ref>

==== - There is no reliable figure for “how many undocumented alleged children are accepted without dispute” (i.e., admitted to school or services as children and never questioned). ====
* The numbers we have focus largely on age assessments tied to asylum/unaccompanied minors, generally under the Home Office process—not specifically school admission of undocumented children.
* Many undocumented migrants claiming to be children may never trigger formal “age‐dispute” processes (or the dispute may not be publicly recorded), so the dataset is incomplete.
* The term “undocumented” is broad and doesn’t always map neatly onto “unaccompanied asylum-seeking child”, making comparisons difficult.

==== Given the numbers above: if ~3,400 unaccompanied children sought asylum in 2023 and ~1,300 had age disputes in the 18-month window (2022–2023) then roughly one in a few might have their age actively disputed—though this ratio is approximate and limited to asylum data. ====
Also: Of those whose age was disputed and decision completed, more than half were actually children (i.e., were wrongly assessed as adults).

==== - The dispute figures above concern asylum/immigration age assessments, not educational admission procedures. ====
* It suggests that if someone claims to be a child, there is a substantial risk their claim will be challenged if authorities suspect they are significantly over 18.
* However, “accepted without dispute” for school purposes may be far more common (or at least less documented) because local education authorities often admit children based on claimed age/residence rather than initiating a formal dispute.

If you like, I can try dig into education‐specific data (how many undocumented children actually get into UK state schools and how many times their age/residence is formally challenged). Want me to do that?