How to conduct age assessments: interview tips

Guidance

The full guide focusses on the duties of social workers carrying out age assessments and the practical steps you need to take before, during and after an age assessment with a young person. It draws on the Age Assessment Guidance published by the Association of Directors of Children’s Service (ADCS), the key document for social workers in England.

Social workers in Wales should use the Welsh government’s Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children: Age Assessment Toolkit (Welsh Government, 2021).

The assessing social worker role

If an age disputed young person presents, or is referred, to a local authority, managers need to allocate two qualified and registered social workers to undertake the assessment.

Both social workers must have experience of working with children and young people, and of undertaking assessments of children in need. At least one social worker should have experience of working with young asylum seekers and undertaking age assessments. Where this proves difficult, local authorities may wish to consider using an independent social worker with relevant experience or making arrangements with other local authorities.

The two social workers and manager need to discuss and agree roles in planning the assessment and conducting the interview(s) and schedule time for different aspects of the work, to ensure the assessment can be completed promptly.

Planning the assessment should consider the skills and experience of the workers involved. Tasks will include:

• gathering and reviewing any information already available;
• practical arrangements, such as booking a venue, an interpreter and an appropriate adult;
• planning the assessment interviews (perhaps including formulating some areas of discussion or questions);
• drafting the assessment report.

One social worker can ‘lead’ the interview(s) with the other mainly or solely taking notes. Check if there are local policies in place. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) age assessment guide advises that if both workers take notes, it may be difficult for the lead social worker to observe changes in the young person’s expression or body posture.

Planning and preparing

Before the age assessment, consider:

1. Has the young person been informed that an age assessment is going to be conducted, and are arrangements in place to ensure they been given the information they need about the process and the support available to them?
2. Have arrangements been made for an appropriate adult and interpreter to assist with the interview(s)?
3. Has a suitable venue been arranged?
4. Has relevant country of origin and background information been collated and read by both assessing social workers?
5. Have arrangements been made to gather any relevant information available from other sources, including any documentation?
6. Is each social worker clear about their role in the interview(s)?

Conducting interviews

Throughout the interview(s), be alert to indicators of potential vulnerabilities in the young person that have not already come to light, such as human trafficking, mental health concerns and any other safeguarding issues. Take a child friendly and sensitive approach throughout, including checking that questions have been understood and offering breaks.

The following are essential requirements for starting an age assessment interview:

1. Two registered social workers must be present. The same social workers should be present for all interviews.
2. Ensure that the young person is fit to be interviewed (ie check on their welfare and wellbeing).
3. The purpose of the interview(s), possible outcomes, the roles of professionals and how the information may be shared must be explained to the young person.
4. The explanation needs to include that the role of the appropriate adult is to support the young person, and that the interpreter’s role is to translate communication, not provide advice or represent the child.
5. Ensure that the young person understands the interpreter (eg do they speak the same dialect?) and are comfortable with them.
6. Record whether and how the young person has indicated that they understand the purpose of the assessment, the interpreter and the role of the appropriate adult.

Questioning the young person

Simple, open-ended questions should generally be used, and you should ensure that questions are not confusing, repetitive or oppressive. Questions should cover issues related to the young person’s social history, family background and development.  The purpose is to develop a picture of the young person’s life and experiences, not to catch them in a “lie”.

The young person should be asked their age and date of birth and given the opportunity to explain how they know their age and date of birth.

British Association of Social Workers (BASW) guidance (2023) suggests asking:

• “Tell me about your family.”
• “Tell me about your time at school.”
• “Tell me about your journey to the UK. Were you unwell on the journey? Were you hurt or injured in any way?”
• “How long did your journey take? When did you leave?”

Questions like these allow the young person to provide a detailed narrative, support an initial gathering of information of their needs (eg around education and health), and allow you to explore more focused age assessment questions.

Analysing the information

The following ADCS guidance outlines what you should consider when analysing the information (2015):

• The statements of the child or young person.
• Country of origin information.
• The child or young person’s individual history and experiences, particularly any traumatic events.
• The child or young person’s cultural background, education level, gender, maturity, developmental stage and behaviours.
• The views and opinions of other professionals (eg key workers or foster carers, educators, medical professionals);
• Any medical evidence (eg psychological reports).
• The documentation presented: are you able to verify the documents through channels that do not put the child or young person at risk? It should be noted that if a child or young person’s document is assessed to be false, this does not necessarily mean that they are lying about their age.
• The weight given to each piece of information collected. Not all information needs to be given the same weight, and the evidence will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. You should avoid placing too much weight on physical appearance and demeanour.

Clarifying information/’minded to’ meetings

Prior to the final decision, the social workers should meet with the young person to discuss the factors that led to their opinion. Again, the appropriate adult and interpreter should be present.

If the conclusion is that they are not a child, the young person should be given the opportunity to respond to all the points that have led to that conclusion.

The meeting should also be used to check whether any information has been misunderstood, misinterpreted or missed. If the young person offers any further information or explanation, this should be considered before the final decision is made.

The BASW guide refers to these as ‘minded to’ meetings. As well as demonstrating openness to new information, these are important legally, “since judicial review claims on age assessment have been won simply because the social worker failed to conduct a ‘minded to’ meeting” (BASW, 2023).

It is important to document each part of the process and the reasoning behind decisions and conclusions, including the views of others and any differences of opinion.

Following a ‘minded to’ meeting and the consideration of any further information, a final decision can be made.

If you have a Community Care Inform Children licence, log on to access the full guide and learn more about carrying out age assessments.  

References

Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) (2015)
Age Assessment Guidance: Guidance to assist social workers and their managers in undertaking age assessments in England 

British Association of Social Workers (BASW) (2023)
Age Assessment: A Practice Guide