The ASG (formerly ASGLB) data return is completed by every local authority, regional adoption agency and voluntary adoption agency in England on a quarterly basis.

The primary aim of the collection is to collect information about children and (prospective) adopters in the adoption process and data on SGOs to enable decision-making at national, regional and local level to be evidence-based and informed by strong intelligence, and for agencies and regional boards to have the information they need to improve performance.

Each quarter’s return is commissioned on the first working day of the following quarter and agencies are given a month to submit their data. As LAs, RAAs and VAAs are asked to provide adoption data covering the full financial year (1 April to 31 March) for Q4, an extended submission period is given for Q4 – this allows LAs, RAAs and VAAs extra time to complete the full year’s child- and/or adopter-level return and to cross-reference their data with the SSDA903 return that is completed over the same period.

ASG Data Collection Key Dates for 2023/24

Please click here to download the ASG How the Headline Measures are Calculated guidance document.

We have created a PowerBI template that will provide dashboard visualisations of your child data. This zip file contains the pbix file along with instructions on how to set it up. If you have any issues or feedback please let us know.

For Q4 2023/24, please note that the child- and adopter-level returns need to be submitted by Friday 31st May 2024.

Please click here to download the ASG Quarterly Data Guidance.

Please click here to download the ASG Adopter-Level Data Template Q4 2023/24.

All LAs will securely receive their individualised child-level template directly, but please click here to download a blank version of the ASG Child-Level Data Template Q4 2023/24 should you need it.