How to become a foster carer in the UK: from first enquiry to first placement

The journey in brief

Forms, timescales and some rules differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so treat this guide as a map rather than a timetable.

• Enquiry and an initial home visit
• Preparation training
• Checks and a social work assessment
• Fostering panel and the service's decision
• Matching, your first placement and ongoing support

Who can apply

For England, gov.uk says you must be at least 18 (most services ask for 21 or over), have the right to work in the UK and be able to care for a child, often full time. You do not need to own your home, but you will usually need a spare bedroom. Scotland's mygov.scot guidance adds that there is no upper age limit and that renting, having your own children or working full time do not rule you out, though some councils restrict certain types of fostering to full-time workers. Marital status, sexual orientation and religion cannot count against you. Services look for people who can nurture a child and work as part of a team.

Step 1: decide who to apply to

You apply through a fostering service: your local council's fostering team (in Northern Ireland, your Health and Social Care Trust) or an independent fostering agency (IFA), which may be a charity or a company. You can only be registered with one service at a time, so speak to two or three first.

Councils are responsible for children in care and place them with their own carers first, turning to agencies only when no in-house carer is free. Foster Wales says this makes council carers more likely to be considered for all ages, including babies, and to care for local children, while agency carers tend to have slightly older children, sometimes from further away, with gaps between placements. A long-standing piece on The Fostering Network's site notes that agencies often offer more supervising social worker time and higher allowances.

Any service must be registered with the regulator: Ofsted in England, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales or the RQIA in Northern Ireland. Read its latest inspection report, and ask:

• Will the social worker who assesses you also supervise you afterwards?
• What does the year's training programme look like?
• What are the allowance and any fee, and what happens between placements?

Step 2: enquiry, home visit and preparation training

The service will talk through the types of fostering, then usually visit your home to see the room a child would use and meet everyone who lives with you. You will be invited to a preparation course, before or alongside your assessment. In Wales this is typically a free two-day Skills to Foster course; in Scotland, preparation groups led by experienced carers are compulsory. You can withdraw at any stage, and applying is normally free.

Step 3: the assessment

In England the assessment has two stages. Stage one is the practical checks: enhanced DBS checks with barred lists for you and every adult in your household, a medical report usually from your GP, local authority and employer checks, contact with previous significant partners, at least two references, and a health and safety check of your home. If the service decides not to continue after stage one, it must write to you with reasons within 10 days of receiving all the stage one information.

Stage two is about you: your personality and relationship history, ethnicity, culture and beliefs, your willingness to care for a child from a different background, your employment history and standard of living, and any experience of caring for children. An assessing social worker visits regularly, involving your own children if you have them, and writes a report. Many services in England use CoramBAAF's Form F, revised in May 2025 to be more strengths-based and trauma-informed. It recommends whether you should be approved and on what terms: type of fostering, number of children and age range. You read it, add comments and sign it. Scotland and Northern Ireland run similar checks without the two-stage label.

Step 4: panel and the decision

Your report goes to a fostering panel at least five working days before it meets. Panels typically include experienced foster carers, social workers and other independent professionals. You attend with your assessing social worker and answer questions. The panel recommends; the service's agency decision maker, usually a senior manager, decides. Fosterline says that should happen within seven days of receiving the panel minutes, with the outcome given verbally within two days and in writing within five working days. In Scotland, mygov.scot describes the panel itself as making the approval decision.

If you are turned down

Outright rejection at panel is rare: Ofsted recorded 30 in England in 2024 to 2025, against 1,115 applications withdrawn by services, so an early 'not now' is more common. In England, if the service proposes not to approve you, you have 28 days from the date of the letter to make representations or apply to the Independent Review Mechanism, whose panel makes a fresh recommendation that the decision maker must consider. Wales has IRM Cymru, run by Children in Wales, which takes applications for up to 40 days. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, ask your council or Trust fostering team for the reasons and how to appeal.

How long does it take?

For England, gov.uk says up to eight months from application to decision, and the national minimum standards require an assessment to reach panel within eight months of starting. Fosterline estimates four to six months from formal application; Foster Wales Swansea quotes four to six months from first enquiry; mygov.scot gives six to 12 months for Scotland. The usual delays are your own availability, slow references and GP medicals, so chase these early.

After approval: your first placement

Once approved you start post-approval training and meet your supervising social worker. You are sent profiles of children who might suit you and can set preferences on age, gender and type of fostering, but you cannot pick a child out of a group and there is no trial period. Where possible you meet the child first; emergency placements can come with less than 24 hours' notice. When a child arrives you should be told about their background, health and education needs and given a placement plan setting out which day-to-day decisions you can make (delegated authority). You can end a placement with 28 days' notice.

Support and money once you are fostering

You will have two social workers: the child's, and your own supervising social worker. Your service should also offer an out-of-hours advice line, support groups, a personal development plan reviewed yearly, and the chance to take a break. In England a social worker should visit in the child's first week, then every six weeks during the first year; new carers complete the Training, Support and Development Standards workbook within 12 months of approval; and your approval is reviewed at least once a year, with the first review going back to panel.

Money comes in two parts: an allowance for each child's food, clothes, travel and household costs, and a fee that some services pay for your skills and time. For England, gov.uk's minimum weekly allowance for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 runs from £176 (a child aged 0 to 2, outside London and the South East) to £309 (16 to 17, London). You register as self-employed with HMRC and claim qualifying care relief, a tax-free amount per household plus relief for each week a child is with you. Fosterline and Fosterline Scotland give free, independent advice on all of this.

Across the UK

England

The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and national minimum standards apply. Independent agencies must register with Ofsted. The 2026 to 2027 minimum allowance is £176 to £309 a week depending on the child's age and your area, and a proposed refusal can go to the Independent Review Mechanism within 28 days. Fosterline: 0800 040 7675.

Scotland

Apply through one of the 32 councils, an independent agency or a charity, all registered with the Care Inspectorate. Preparation groups are compulsory. After approval you sign a foster carer agreement and are reviewed by panel after your first year, then every two years. Councils must pay at least the Scottish Recommended Allowance: from 1 April 2026, £177.68 a week for a child aged 0 to 4, £206.71 for 5 to 15 and £283.35 for 16 and over. Fosterline Scotland: 0141 204 1400.

Wales

Foster Wales is the Welsh Government-backed network of all 22 council fostering services; Care Inspectorate Wales regulates. Every council has signed the National Commitment package of training, support and rewards. The Fostering Network lists the Welsh national minimum allowance for 2026 to 2027 as £229 (0 to 4), £208 (5 to 15) and £260 (16 to 17) a week. Refusals can be reviewed by IRM Cymru within 40 days. Foster Wales states that from 2027 for-profit agencies will not be able to recruit new foster carers in Wales.

Northern Ireland

Children in care are the responsibility of the five Health and Social Care Trusts, each with a fostering service supported by HSC NI Adoption and Foster Care; independent providers also operate. The RQIA is the regulator. There is no maximum age, checks include AccessNI, and applications go to a fostering panel. nidirect's published rates from 1 April 2024 run from £149 a week (0 to 4) to £219 (16 and over); The Fostering Network reports uplifts since, so ask your Trust. Trust carers get 24-hour fostering social work support, short breaks and annual reviews.

Common questions