How much you'll get paid

When you become a foster carer, we'll pay you a weekly allowance, based on the child's age, to help cover the day-to-day costs of looking after a child, such as bills, food, clothes, travel, school dinners and pocket money.

Weekly payments

These are the minimum weekly rates for 2020 to 2021 equivalent to the national minimum standard recommended by the Department of Education.

Child or young person's age                                        Allowance
0 - 2 years £132
3 - 4 years £135
5 - 10 years £149
11 - 15 years £170
Over 16s £198                                                                            

Skills-based payment scheme

We'll reward your development as a foster carer through our Payment for Skills Scheme which operates with six levels based on the knowledge, skills and experience that you bring to the fostering role. 

Depending on the level of your fostering skills, you'll also receive an additional weekly payment, set out below. This is based both on your level of experience and skills. There will be a further age-related fee depending on the age and the needs of the child/children you care for.

Skill Rate
Level 1 £100
Level 2 £150
Level 3 £360
Specialist fee £360

* (payable to carers at lower levels who care for children under specific schemes)

Foster carer payment examples

A Level 1 foster carer with a foster child aged 3

Our foster carer would receive

  • Foster carer fee of £100 per week
  • Fostering allowance of £145 per week (including age-related fee)
  • Total of £245 per week (4 weeks - £980)

A Level 1 foster carer with two foster children aged 3 and 6

Our foster carer would receive

  • Foster carer fee of £100 per week
  • Fostering allowance of £314 per week (including age-related fee)
  • Total of £414 per week (4 weeks - £1656)

A Level 2 foster carer with two foster children aged 5 and 10

Our foster carer would receive

  • Foster carer fee of £150 per week
  • Fostering allowance of £338 per week (including age-related fee)
  • Total of £488 per week (4 weeks - £1952)

A Level 3 foster carer with one foster child aged 11

Our foster carer would receive

  • Foster carer fee of £360 per week
  • Fostering allowance of £190 per week (including age-related fee)
  • Total of £550 per week (4 weeks - £2200)

A Level 3 foster carer with two children aged 7 and 12

Our foster carer would receive

  • Foster carer fee of £360 per week 
  • Fostering allowance of £384 per week (including age-related fee)
  • Total of £744 per week (4 weeks - £2976)