What are the requirements to become a foster carer?

What do you actually need to become a foster carer?

The genuine, baseline requirements set out by GOV.UK's guidance on becoming a foster parent are shorter than most people expect: you must be at least 21 years old, from any ethnic, religious or cultural background, and you can apply with or without children of your own, in any type of household. There's no requirement to be married, to own your home, or to fit a particular family shape.

Beyond that baseline, every application goes through an individual assessment - known in the sector as a "Form F" assessment - carried out by whichever local authority or independent fostering agency (IFA) you apply to. That assessment is where your specific circumstances, not a fixed checklist, decide whether you're approved. Our guide to local authority versus independent agency fostering explains how the two routes differ.

What isn't actually a requirement, even though people think it is

A lot of prospective carers rule themselves out over things that were never a real barrier in the first place.

• Owning your home. Renting isn't a barrier - see our full guide, can I foster if I rent?
• Being married or partnered. Single applicants are approved routinely - see can single people foster?
• Being under a certain age. There's no fixed upper age limit - see is there a fostering age limit?
• Working full-time. It's possible, though how workable it is depends heavily on the type of fostering - see can I foster and work?
• Holding indefinite leave to remain. This is explicitly flagged as a myth in the Department for Education's own research - anyone with a visa that permits self-employed work can apply. [Ipsos/DfE, "Foster carer recruitment and conversion rates", July 2023, p.31 & p.49]

The DBS and background checks

Every adult living in your household is required to undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, not just the applicant. A criminal record does not automatically disqualify you - the nature, date and circumstances of any offence are considered individually as part of your assessment, though certain serious offences against children are an absolute bar under fostering regulations. Only the service carrying out your assessment can tell you how a specific record would be viewed, and this is one area we'd always point you to a proper conversation with a registered service rather than guess at, given how case-specific it is.

The health assessment

You'll be asked for a medical report from your GP and, in most cases, an assessment from an independent fostering medical adviser. This isn't about being in perfect health - it's about whether any condition would affect your ability to meet a child's needs day to day, and reasonable adjustments are considered rather than a fixed health bar applied uniformly.

Do you really need a spare room?

In most cases, yes - a child placed with you will usually need their own bedroom, both for their sense of security and because sharing a room with an unrelated child (or, past a certain age, with a carer's own child of the opposite sex) generally isn't permitted. However, national guidance builds in some flexibility around exactly what counts as suitable space, rather than treating "spare bedroom" as a rigid, no-exceptions checkbox. [Ipsos/DfE, July 2023] If your situation is borderline - a box room, a flexible layout, a home office that could convert - the honest answer is that it's worth raising directly with a local authority or agency rather than assuming you're excluded before you ask.

References - who you'll be asked about

As part of your Form F assessment, you'll be asked to provide personal references from people who know you well, typically including people who aren't family members, and the assessing social worker will usually also want to speak to any former partners with whom you've raised children, as a standard safeguarding step rather than a judgement on your relationship history. This can feel intrusive, and the Department for Education's own research found that some applicants experience the process that way - but it exists because the assessment is, first and foremost, about a child's safety. [Ipsos/DfE, July 2023]

How long does it actually take, and how many applications succeed?

From first thinking seriously about fostering to being approved typically takes two to five years - most of that is people researching and deciding, not sitting inside a formal assessment, so a long personal timeline is normal rather than a sign something has gone wrong. [Ipsos/DfE, July 2023] Once a formal application is submitted, Ofsted's most recent published data (year to 31 March 2024) shows that of 8,485 applications received, 5,535 were completed (65%), of which 1,815 were approved - 33% of completed applications - 3,670 were withdrawn (66%) and only 50 were formally rejected (1%). [Ofsted, "Fostering in England 2023-24"] The high withdrawal rate mostly reflects people whose circumstances changed or who decided fostering wasn't right for them at that time, not mass rejection.

What this means if you're wondering whether to enquire

If the only thing holding you back is a belief about renting, age, marital status or a visa, it's worth reading the specific myth-busting guide that applies to you before you count yourself out. If it's something genuinely case-specific - a health condition, a criminal record, a housing question - a no-obligation conversation with a local authority or Ofsted-registered agency is the only way to get a real answer, and enquiring is not a commitment to proceed.