Hearing Impairment: Children and Young People
(asked on 16th September 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people aged under 21 who have been diagnosed as legally deaf in the last 12 months.
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Office for National Statistics collates data on deaf adults, but not on deaf children. It estimates in its 2022/23 annual population survey that 1,235,855 adults aged 16 years old and over in the United Kingdom have difficulty in hearing. These statistics are available at the following link:
However, other organisations have data or estimates of the number of deaf children and young people. For example, the Consortium for Research into Deaf Education, which brings together a range of organisations with an interest in improving the educational outcomes achieved by deaf children, identified in its 2024 report that there were 54,321 deaf children reported by services across the UK, a 3% increase since 2023. The report is available at the following link:
https://cms.ndcs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-05/CRIDE%20UK%20-%202024.pdf
NHS audiology services are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing people lies with local NHS commissioners. We expect local commissioning to be informed by the best available evidence, relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and guidance issued by NHS England. In 2019, NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioner and health and local authority providers who support children and young people with hearing loss. This guide is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf