Do you need experience
to foster a child?

You don't need experience or qualifications to become a foster parent, as our training programme will equip you with all the necessary skills you need to welcome your first child. 

While you don't need previous experience to foster a child or young person, we'll explore any relevant skills and experience that may be beneficial as part of your fostering assessment, including:

Experience with children - if you have or have had children of your own, you've got a head start because you understand what it takes to care for them. Equally, it’s good to have experience of working with children - as a teacher for example, or in a voluntary capacity. But while it’s valuable, it’s not essential to your application, so please don’t let a lack of experience with children put you off applying at our fostering agency.

Other work experience - we’re interested in what you’ve done in your life because it’s given you valuable skills, such as understanding people, dealing with problems, making decisions and coping with life’s challenges, all things you’ll need as a foster parent. So whatever your career history – or even if you’ve never worked at all – we don’t mind. It’s your life experiences that matter to us when you apply to be a foster carer.