• Almost 3 million matured Child Trust Fund accounts have been claimed or transferred into an Individual Savings Account since September 2020.
• Around 827,000 matured Child Trust Funds yet to be claimed, worth on average £2,310.
• Young people can find their Child Trust Fund quickly and for free using the GOV.UK locator tool.

Almost 3 million Child Trust Fund accounts held by 18 to 24 year-olds have either been claimed or transferred into an Individual Savings Account, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveals as it encourages the thousands who don’t know where their savings are to find them today.

Latest figures show around 827,000 young adults have a matured Child Trust Fund account waiting to be claimed, which could be worth on average £2,310.

Child Trust Funds are long term, tax-free savings accounts set up for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 with an initial government deposit of at least £250.

Young people can take control of their account at 16 and when the account matures at 18, can decide what they want to do with it – withdraw it to spend, leave it where it is or re-invest it.

Anna, 18 from London, has already claimed her Child Trust Fund:

It was really straightforward. Nationwide kept me updated the whole way through and explained how to access the money. I’m heading off to university soon, and I honestly had no idea how expensive things like saucepans, plates and all the other essentials would be, so this support has been really helpful.

Matteo, 18 from London, has decided to leave his savings in the account:

I’ve just turned 18 and I’m looking at all my options before deciding what to do with my Child Trust Fund. My parents have topped it up over the years, so it’s grown into a really useful amount of money. I don’t want to rush into anything or waste it, so I’m taking the time to work out what’s best for me.

If young people, or their parents or guardians, know who their Child Trust Fund provider is, they can contact them directly.

A Child Trust Fund Taskforce has been established to bring together Government and industry to help more young people access the savings that belong to them and to reduce the number of unclaimed accounts.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, who leads the Taskforce, said:

The oldest matured Child Trust Fund accounts are now more than six years old and some young people may not know they have savings waiting for them. The Taskforce has been set up to help those young people who don’t know about their savings. If you’re unsure where your account is, you can find, quickly, easily and for free using the GOV.UK locator tool.

It takes about 5 minutes to submit a request to find a Child Trust Fund through the online tool using the young person’s National Insurance number and date of birth and, for most, less than 3 weeks to hear back.

For those who don’t have their National Insurance number to hand, they can quickly and easily download it from the HMRC app and keep it in their digital wallet for whenever it’s needed.

The savings accounts are not held by government but are held in banks, building societies or other saving providers. Find out more about Child Trust Funds at GOV.UK.

Further Information

Latest figures for Child Trust Funds included in the Annual Savings Statistics were released on 16 September 2026 and include figures up to April 2026.

The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced with Junior Individual Savings Accounts (ISA).

If a parent or guardian was not able to set up an account for their child, the government opened a savings account on the child’s behalf.