How do I know that my vat return has been sent and received by hmrc as I can’t seem to find any evidence on my account that I have sent it as this all new to me so

Welcome and thank you for posting in the Community space, @tbudd1.

You can click the ▼ drop-down arrow against the return to view your reports. This way, you can see the Approved by HMRC status. Also, the Submitted Return Status will show as Approved if the VAT submission is successful.

Also, take note once you submit your VAT return to HMRC, QuickBooks Online creates a journal moving the amount of VAT due from the VAT Control account to the VAT Suspense.

For more detailed instruction, click this article: Submit a VAT return in QuickBooks Online.

I've included these articles for more info about VAT submission and how to edit VAT settings in QuickBooks: 

• VAT Online Submission direct to HMRC 
• Set up and edit VAT settings, VAT codes, and VAT rates

 Keep me posted if you have any other QuickBooks questions. I'm glad to help. Keeps safe!