Source: Local Government Lawyer

Plans are in place to test Facial Age Estimation (FAE) technology throughout 2026 with a view to implement it at the border in 2027. FAE uses machine learning to estimate a person’s age from a facial photograph within seconds and is not currently operational. The Home Office describes FAE as providing “additional information” to inform initial age decision making while emphasising it will not automate or replace a human decision that also considers demeanour and appearance. The Government previously committed, in the Immigration White Paper published in May 2025, to strengthen the age assessment process and to explore technologies including artificial intelligence.

Current practice remains that age assessments for those who are, or claim to be, under 18 and seeking asylum are carried out by social workers acting under direction of local authorities or by the Home Office’s National Age Assessment Board. Guidance published on 29 May gives assurances that FAE will be used only as a “supplementary tool” for immigration officers and “won’t be relied upon to make a definitive age decision or to replace holistic approaches such as Merton‑compliant age assessments.” The article records concerns from the British Association of Social Workers, whose interim CEO, Prof Sam Baron, warned that using FAE in age assessments risks “major safeguarding mistakes.” The piece also cites Home Office data noting asylum claim numbers (111,084 in the year ending June 2025) and that in the year ending March 2026 more than 6,400 migrants claiming to be children were age‑assessed at the border, with 43% found to be adults.