How Ofsted is Approaching AI in Children’s Care

How AI can support safer, smarter residential childcare.

With increased demands on recording, risk planning, and oversight, many care teams are asking if AI can actually help? And more importantly, what does Ofsted think?

Ofsted released a new position statement on how it will approach AI in care settings. In short, they’re not inspecting AI itself, they’re inspecting how it affects children’s outcomes, decision making, and safeguarding.

At Mentor Software, we’ve welcomed this measured response. It strikes the right balance between supporting innovation while keeping children’s wellbeing at the heart of every decision. Here’s what it means for your children’s home and how AI can support, not replace, the people who care.

What Ofsted Actually Said About AI

Ofsted is not evaluating the use of AI in isolation. Instead, inspectors will look at whether any use of AI improves or hinders outcomes for children. That means:

• You won’t be scored on whether you use AI or not
• You won’t need to “prove” how AI tools work under the hood
• But if AI has an impact on quality, oversight, or safety – that will be considered

What Does That Mean for Residential Childcare Providers?

In a residential setting, technology should never replace professional judgement. But it can support the key pillars of good care:

Improved Accuracy in Recording

AI-assisted suggestions or prompts can help ensure logs are complete, risk assessments are thorough, and no key details are missed, especially under pressure.

Smarter Oversight for RIs and Managers

AI can highlight patterns in incidents, placement stability, or missing documentation – so issues are identified before they escalate.

Faster, Safer Communication

Natural language summarisation can reduce delays between events and reporting, helping to keep managers, external professionals, or RIs stay informed in real time.

Safer Use of Data

The right tools reduce human error, while building better audit trails for inspections, compliance, and safeguarding assurance.

What Inspectors Might Ask

Ofsted won’t ask how AI is coded, but they may explore how you use it. For example:

• Do AI-generated summaries of incidents reflect the reality of care delivered?
• Is data processed responsibly, with attention to bias and safeguarding risk?
• Have you considered risks and implemented checks before introducing AI?

According to Ofsted, these questions mirror what they’d ask about any system or provider decision, AI is just the latest tool in focus.

Mentor’s Approach to Responsible AI in Children’s Homes

At Mentor, we believe that technology should reflect how great homes already work, not force you into rigid systems. AI within your children’s home software should make it easier to show the good work you’re already doing, not create more steps, stress, or scrutiny.

We’re building our first AI features directly into Mentor V3, but always with the following principles in mind:

• Transparency: You’re always in control. AI features suggest, they don’t decide.
• Safety First: Our tools enhance documentation and visibility, never compromise it.
• Care First Design: We prioritise features that help staff spend less time chasing paperwork and more time focusing on young people.
• Ofsted Aligned: We design tools that make inspection readiness part of daily care, not a separate job.

What Should Homes Do Now?

Ofsted won’t expect you to use AI, but they will expect you to understand the tools you choose to use. Here’s what we recommend:

Document your decisions

If you do use AI tools (for summarising logs, generating reports, or alerts), keep a record of what the tool is, why you chose it, and how you’ve reviewed its output.

Focus on impact

Is the tool helping reduce admin time? Improving consistency? Strengthening safeguarding oversight? These are the kinds of outcomes inspectors want to see.

Keep children at the centre

Whether you use AI for rotas or risk assessments, the key question is: Does this help us deliver better care?

AI is a Tool for Children’s Homes

Mentor V3 is already helping teams reduce duplication, improve oversight and respond faster. Our AI features are designed to enhance what humans do best – reflection, empathy, and decision making.

Whether you’re exploring AI or just trying to reduce admin, Ofsted won’t judge your children’s home on the tools you use, only how well you use them. And with the right systems in place, you can focus more on what really matters, providing safe, stable, and outstanding care.

Whether you’re curious about AI or just looking to improve daily documentation, we’d love to show you how V3 supports your goals. Book a short call or contact our team at sales@mentorsoftware.co.uk