Search all content on GOV.UK

Support for foster carers, including financial help, tax arrangements, how to make decisions for your foster child, claiming benefit while fostering, and other help.

• Training and development

  You need to complete the training, support, and development standards…

• Help with the cost of fostering

  All foster parents get a foster care allowance to help cover the cost of…

• Tax arrangements

  You should have registered as self-employed when you started to foster.…

• Claiming benefits

  Being a foster parent can affect your benefits. Check a benefits…

• Making decisions for your foster child

  Your foster child’s placement plan should tell you what decisions you can…

• Getting support

  You should get support from your fostering service, your local council and…

Foster carers look after children when their parents are not able to - becoming a foster carer, money and support available, fostering agencies, foster parents

• Who can foster

  Being a foster parent means caring for a child as part of your family. To…

• Types of foster care

  There are many types of foster care. The application process is the same…

• Help with the cost of fostering

  All foster parents receive a foster care allowance to cover the cost of…

• Applying to become a foster parent

  The process starts when you apply to become a foster parent and finishes…

• Your fostering assessment

  Before you can foster a child you must pass an assessment by a social…

• After you've applied

  The fostering service will contact you to tell you the result of your…

What to do if you need to get child maintenance and one of the parents lives abroad.

• Overview

  There are different rules for child maintenance if a parent lives abroad.…

• If the other parent lives abroad

  How you get a child maintenance decision depends on whether the other…

• Enforcing a child maintenance decision if you live abroad

  You can still enforce a child maintenance decision if the other parent…

Student finance for most undergraduate and some postgraduate and further education courses starting on or after 1 January 2027. Information about student loans, grants and extra funding to help cover course tuition fees and living costs.

These reports collected parents' views about confidence in their own parenting skills and the services available to support them.

• Updated: 26 November 2010

Stoke Heath’s family strategy outlines how we support prisoners in our care to develop meaningful and constructive relationships with their family or significant others.

• Updated: 28 January 2026

This page provides a collection of online media literacy resources and events.

• Updated: 30 September 2021

Apply for a UK Ancestry visa if you're a Commonwealth citizen and can prove that one of your grandparents was born in the UK - eligibility, fees, documents, how to apply, how long it takes and how to settle

Resources and tools to help commissioners, managers and leaders reduce the impact of damaging parental conflict on children.

• Updated: 18 January 2021

How to get contact with your grandchildren if parents divorce or separate and will not let you see them: mediation, applying for a court order