Ofsted has proposed to introduce a separate inspection grade for councils on the experiences and progress of care leavers, to increase their profile.
The inspectorate said it concluded that its current approach of issuing a single judgment for children in care and care leavers "[had] not maximised the profile of care leavers to the extent we had intended".
It has launched a six-week consultation on adding a separate care leavers' judgment to the inspection of local authority children's services (ILACS) framework.
In an accompanying document, it added that the move to consult had been influenced by research it published earlier this year that found more than one-third of care leavers felt they had left care too early.
Many told the study they felt "alone" or "isolated" after leaving care, with others commenting that they had no control over their living arrangements, making them feel unsafe.
Ofsted also noted that a significant number of local authority leaders had "shown enthusiasm for Ofsted inspections to ‘shine a brighter light’ on how well care leavers are supported into adulthood", up to the age of 25.
'We can do more'
Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s national director for social care, said that while ILACS inspections have done much to highlight the experiences of care leavers and the work by local authorities to support them, "we think we can do more".
"Introducing a separate judgement reflects the priority we think should be given to providing high quality support to care leavers," she added. "We encourage everyone to contribute their views through our consultation, to help us give [them] a clearer profile within these inspections."
