Training and Development When Providing Foster Care in the UK – How Often Is It Needed?

Starting out in fostering, one of the questions that comes up quickly is how much training is actually involved. It is not just about the initial course to get approved. Training and development continue throughout your time as a foster parent, and they play a key role in helping you feel confident, prepared, and supported as situations change.

In the UK, fostering training is not a one-off requirement. It is ongoing, structured, and designed to reflect the realities of caring for a child whose needs can evolve over time. From building core skills at the beginning to developing more specialist knowledge later on, training is there to support you at every stage, not to overwhelm you.

Understanding how often training is needed, what it involves, and how it fits around day-to-day fostering can make the whole process feel far more manageable.

The Different Types of Foster Care Training in the UK

The journey begins with the nationally recognised Skills to Foster training course, which provides a clear introduction to fostering and prepares you for the responsibilities ahead. From there, training develops into a structured combination of core and more specialised learning, designed to support you as your role evolves.

All foster parents complete core training, which focuses on the areas that underpin safe and consistent care. This includes:

• Skills to Foster training
• Safeguarding children
• First aid
• Health and safety
• Recording and reporting
• Equality, diversity and inclusion
• Attachment and trauma
• Child development
• Safe care and risk management
• Managing allegations and complaints

These are not just topics to work through, they directly shape how you care for a child, respond to challenges, and meet the expectations of fostering in the UK.

Alongside this, there is a wide range of specialist and ongoing development training, which is shaped around your experience and the needs of the children in your care. This can include:

• Therapeutic parenting
• Caring for children with additional needs
• Supporting teenagers and adolescents
• Promoting positive behaviour
• CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation) awareness
• Internet safety and social media
• Education and supporting learning
• Transitions and preparing for independence
• Mental health awareness
• Parent and child fostering
• Understanding the impact of neglect

This type of training allows you to build on your knowledge in a way that reflects real situations, rather than following a fixed path.

In addition to this, foster parents also have access to Foster Talk, an independent service that provides free information sessions and additional training. This gives you access to wider guidance and support beyond your agency.

Training is not static. It is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect current best practice and the changing needs of the children in care. Additional training is always available depending on your placement type and your own development goals, ensuring what you learn stays relevant and useful over time.

How Often Do You Need Training When Providing Foster Care in the UK?

Foster care training in the UK is not set to one fixed schedule, but there are clear expectations around how often you need to complete it, especially in the early stages and on an ongoing basis.

In your first year after approval, there is a defined requirement. Foster parents in England are expected to complete the Training, Support and Development Standards (TSDS) within 12 months (or 18 months in some cases).
This forms the foundation of your learning and ensures you have the core knowledge needed to safely support a child.

After that initial period, there is no single national rule that dictates an exact number of training sessions per year. However, fostering services and local authorities set clear expectations to make sure learning continues.

In practice, this usually means:

• Foster parents are expected to complete regular ongoing training every year, rather than stopping after approval
• Many services work to a guideline of around 20 hours of learning and development annually

The exact amount can vary depending on your agency, your experience, and the needs of a child in your care.

What is consistent across the UK is that training is treated as ongoing, not optional. You will continue to complete both mandatory refreshers (such as safeguarding or first aid) and more tailored training linked to your role. Additional training is often identified through supervision, annual reviews, and discussions with your assessing social worker, rather than being set in advance.

It is also important to understand that fostering is an evolving role. Expectations, legislation, and best practice change over time, and the needs of a child can shift quickly. Because of that, training continues throughout your time as a foster parent to make sure your knowledge stays current and your support remains effective.

What Support Do Foster Parents Receive Alongside Training?

Training is only one part of becoming a foster parent. Just as important is the level of support around you day to day, especially when situations feel unfamiliar or challenging. At Family Fostering Partners, support runs alongside training from the very beginning, so you are not expected to manage things on your own.

One of the most important parts of this is dedicated, consistent support. You will have an assessing social worker who gets to know you, your household, and the children in your care. They are there to offer practical advice, guide you through situations as they arise, and help you apply what you have learned in training to real-life scenarios. This is not just occasional check-ins, it is ongoing, reliable support that you can turn to whenever needed.

There is also 24/7 support available, which means you always have someone to contact, including outside of typical working hours. This is particularly important in fostering, where situations do not always happen at convenient times and having immediate guidance can make a real difference.

Alongside this, our private social media groups give you the opportunity to connect with other foster parents. This creates space to share experiences, talk through challenges, and learn from people who understand what fostering actually involves. For many, this becomes just as valuable as formal training, as it offers reassurance and perspective that can only come from others in a similar role.

Foster parents are also supported through Foster Talk membership, which provides access to additional training, advice, and independent information. This helps you stay informed and gives you another layer of support beyond your agency.

Do Foster Parents Need Specialist Training for Different Types of Care?

In short, yes, but it is not something you are expected to have before you start. Specialist training is provided as you go, and it becomes important depending on the type of care you are offering and the needs of a child placed with you.

Across the UK, all foster parents complete core training first, but fostering services, Family Fostering Partners included, are also expected to provide additional, more focused training where it is needed to support specific placements.

This is because not every fostering situation is the same. Caring for a teenager, supporting a child with additional needs, or providing parent and child placements all require different approaches, different levels of understanding, and often different strategies day to day.

For example, some types of fostering are considered more specialised. Therapeutic fostering is a clear example, where foster parents complete specific training programmes to support children with more complex emotional or behavioural needs.

Specialist training is usually introduced when:

• You take on a placement with more specific or complex needs
• You choose to develop in a particular area of fostering
• Additional support is identified through supervision or review

This might include training around therapeutic parenting, trauma-informed care, supporting adolescents, or understanding issues such as exploitation, mental health, or neglect. These are not “extra” topics, they are often essential for providing the right level of care in certain placements.

What matters is that specialist training is not one-size-fits-all. It is tailored. Fostering services are required to make sure you receive the training and development needed to meet the needs of a child in your care, rather than expecting you to adapt without support.

How to Ask Family Fostering Parents for Specific Training

At Family Fostering Partners, the process is straightforward and built into the way support works day to day. Your first point of contact is your assessing social worker, who you can speak to during regular check-ins or whenever something comes up. This might be a specific behaviour you are unsure how to manage, a situation you have not experienced before, or simply a feeling that you would benefit from more guidance in a certain area.

Training needs are also often identified through supervision and annual reviews, where there is time to reflect on what is going well and where additional support could help. From there, the Training Manager and wider team can recommend relevant courses or workshops that match your situation, rather than asking you to attend something generic that may not be useful.

In many cases, support does not stop at formal training. You may also receive one-to-one guidance, practical advice, or additional input from experienced staff, helping you apply what you are learning in a way that works for your household.

If you are thinking about fostering, understanding how training and support work together can make the process feel far more manageable. And if you are ready to take the next step, speaking to Family Fostering Partners is a good place to start. We can talk you through what to expect and how they will support you from day one.

Do You Get Training Before Becoming a Foster Parent?

Yes. All foster parents complete pre-approval training, usually through the Skills to Foster course. This helps you understand the role and prepares you for the assessment process.

Is Foster Care Training Difficult to Keep Up With?

Training is designed to fit around your role, not make things harder. Much of it is practical and directly linked to real situations, so it often feels relevant rather than overwhelming.

Do You Have to Complete Training Every Year as a Foster Parent?

Yes, foster parents are expected to continue learning each year. While the exact amount can vary, ongoing training is a standard part of fostering to make sure your knowledge stays up to date.

What Happens if You Miss a Training Session?

If you are unable to attend a session, there are usually other opportunities to complete the same training at a later date. Your assessing social worker will help you stay on track.

Can Foster Care Training be Done Online?

Yes, many fostering services offer a mix of in-person and online training. This helps make learning more accessible and easier to fit around your schedule.