The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium has published a report on the use of Facial age estimation (FAE) technology to assess the age of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK. The briefing examines existing evidence finding that while errors have improved, use of FAE remains subject to significant margins of error. Due to the risks of the technology wrongly identifying a child to be an adult, proposed safeguards include referral to social workers for more detailed assessment, access to an appropriate adult and legal representation and the ability to legally challenge any decision. If FAE is considered, the report recommends it should be advisory only and that use of the technology must be subject to independent validation and embedded within a transparent, rights compliant procedure.
Read the report: Benchmarks and Borders: The use of Facial Age Estimation to assess the age of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum
Source: Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium
Date published: 16 June 2026
