A coalition of refugee support groups has called for the Home Office’s national age assessment board (NAAB) to be scrapped. They say it puts hundreds of refugee children at risk. The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, including groups like the Refugee Council and NSPCC, released a report exposing serious flaws. NAAB was formed in March 2023 to determine the ages of young asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats. More than 50 social workers work on these assessments. But some children say the process feels hostile and threatening. The report shows assessments have harmed children's mental health, causing self-harm and suicidal thoughts. It claims NAAB’s approach is "far more severe and traumatic" than local authority assessments. Children wrongly assessed as adults face serious danger. They are often placed in adult housing with unrelated adults or even adult prisons. The report gives an example of one boy believed to be 15 on arrival. NAAB said he was seven years older, charging him with crimes related to his arrival. Later local officials confirmed he was the age he said, and charges were dropped. The board was created under the previous government to stop adults pretending to be children. But Freedom of Information data show many initially labeled adults are later proved to be children by local social workers. Some judges also criticized NAAB’s assessments as unfair and biased. The consortium warns politics might be affecting professional judgments. The independent inspector raised NAAB concerns last summer. A government report praised the board but noted its small sample size and limited evidence. The refugee consortium wants NAAB closed. They seek funds to strengthen local authorities’ social workers for age checks. They ask for independent oversight if NAAB continues and respect for local decisions to accept young people as children without tough assessments. Kama Petruczenko, a senior analyst at the Refugee Council, said, "NAAB was set up to bring consistency to age checks, but the evidence shows it is putting children at risk. Courts have found its assessments flawed, delays are common and local social workers’ judgements are often overridden. Because NAAB sits inside the Home Office, immigration control and safeguarding are blurred. Children need independent, child-centred, trauma-informed assessments led by local authorities, not adversarial processes that compound existing problems." Maddie Harris from Humans For Rights Network added, "Children it supported had described NAAB assessments as ‘interrogatory, hostile and terrifying’. It is our view that the NAAB often starts from the position that a person is an adult, searching for evidence to fit this narrative." A Home Office spokesperson responded: "Robust age assessments are vital for safeguarding and border integrity, and we continue to improve the service in line with independent recommendations. We will review this report carefully. The national age assessment board provides specialist, trauma‑informed expertise to support local authorities, and all assessments are carried out by qualified social workers following nationally recognised guidance."