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Age Assessment Rationale

Age Assessment – Notes on Approach

Conduct of Assessment

In view of the difficulty in establishing exact age levels for young people whose development is subject to a great deal of personal variation, I covered a wide spectrum of issues in order to give a balanced view of the developmental issues.

The growth and development of a young person is at its greatest variance during adolescence and moreover there is considerable inter racial variability. In assessing age, one cannot be accurate when limited to a single parameter for example dental age, or to a few interdependent parameters such as height and weight.

The assessment takes into consideration:- 

• The person’s demeanour at interview and their account of past history and the events which have befallen them. 

• It also takes into account growth and physical development across a wide spectrum of parameters.

• Sexual development

• Mental and cognitive development

• Emotional and abstract thought development.

The following groups of parameters are reasonably independent of each other. Hence the age levels suggested by these groups each lend weight to the final age assessment – mental functioning (including IQ, reasoning and concepts); physical growth (including height, weight, growth and BMI); Sexual development and maturation. Ethnic and racial factors are taken into consideration.

Adherence to Guidelines

In conducting age assessments we adhere to the guidelines for age assessments provided by The Policy Statement issued by the Royal College of Paediatrics in November 2007 and additional statement 2009;  the Royal College of Paediatrics and child health 1999 and the House of Lords 2004 {Baroness Scotland of Ashall} and in The Queen on the application of B v London Borough of Merton, [2003] EWHC 1689 (Admin) (14 July 2003)

The Policy Statement issued by the Royal College of Paediatrics in November 2007 states that :-

 ‘We accept the need for some form of age assessment in some circumstances, but there is no single reliable method for making precise estimates.  The most appropriate approach is to use a holistic evaluation, incorporating narrative accounts, physical assessment of puberty and growth, and cognitive, behavioural and emotional assessments. Such assessments will provide the most useful information on which to plan appropriate management’.

This view was underlined when in February 2009 the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health made a statement on the role of paediatricians in the age assessment of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum:-

‘The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health recognises that there are significant difficulties when young people claim asylum who may not have documentation or even knowledge of their age.  We consider that paediatricians have a valuable contribution to make in the assessment of these young people.  There are important dimensions of age assessment, where the training and expertise of paediatricians is central. We reiterate the view stated in the 1999 College guideline in relation to age assessment that "there is no single reliable method for making precise estimates.  The most appropriate approach is to use a holistic evaluation, incorporating narrative accounts, physical assessment of puberty and growth, and cognitive, behavioural and emotional assessments."  A paediatric assessment is an integral part of such a holistic evaluation.’

Holistic Assessment

A ‘holistic’ examination is one in which one employs a variety of approaches encompassing a range of parameters so as to improve the overall accuracy of the estimate. This is the method employed in this assessment.

A mathematical proof has been employed to validate the fact that the standard deviation decreases across a range of measured parameters and that in other words the accuracy is improved by combining a variety of approaches as is done so here.  Full information is available.

Independent Examination

The assessment is an independent examination and assessment of the individual and reaches professional conclusions which are not influenced by the individual’s own stated age.