There are over 827,000 matured Child Trust Funds yet to be claimed, according to HM Revenue and Customs.
The unclaimed funds are worth £2,310 on average.
So far around 3m Child Trust Fund accounts held by 18- to 24-year-olds have either been claimed or transferred into an ISA, according to the taxman.
Child Trust Funds can be located using a government tool launched nine months ago. So far 500,000 have used the Gov.UK Locator tool. To use the tool advisers need the young person’s National Insurance number and date of birth.
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 the age of 16 and when the account matures at 18. They can decide to withdraw it to spend, leave it where it is or re-invest it.
The Child Trust Fund scheme closed in January 2011 and was replaced by the Junior ISA.
The accounts are held within a range of banks, building societies and other savings providers.
As of 5 April 2026, there were around 2.9m open Child Trust Fund accounts, according to the latest savings data from the taxman.
Around 415,000 accounts matured during the tax year 2025 to 2026 and were claimed or automatically transferred to an ISA.
The oldest children on the scheme turned 18 in September 2020. Between then and April 2026, around 3,784,000 accounts matured in total, of which around 2,958,000 were claimed or automatically transferred to an ISA as of April 2026.
The average market value of a Child Trust Fund in April 2026 was £2,642. This is up from £2,242 in April 2025. The average market value of a matured account that was claimed or automatically transferred to an ISA in 2025 to 2026 was £3,596.
Average market value of Child Trust Funds in 2025/26
Source: HMRC Savings Data, 16 September 2026