Fostering a Child Aged 8 and Over

Most people who ring us are picturing a toddler. Very few are picturing a nine-year-old who has changed school twice in eighteen months. That second child is the one we are short of homes for, and looking after them is more ordinary than you think.

Please note: this is general information, not personal financial advice. The allowance figures below are correct at August 2026. National minimum allowance rates are set by the government and published at gov.uk. Our own rates are reviewed and can change.

Who is actually waiting?

Department for Education figures put 81,770 children in care in England on 31 March 2025. Sixty-seven per cent were living with foster families.

More than a quarter, 27 per cent, were sixteen or older. That is not a blip. Over five years the number of babies under one in care has fallen by 8 per cent, while the number aged sixteen and over has risen by 17 per cent.

Now the other half of the picture. Ofsted counted 42,190 fostering households in England at the same date, down 7 per cent since 2021. In that year 4,690 mainstream households stopped fostering and 4,430 started.

Older children. Fewer carers. That is the gap, and it is why we ask.

Is a child of eight harder work than a baby?

Different, not harder.

A baby wakes you at three in the morning. An eight-year-old lets you sleep, then says something at the kitchen table on a Tuesday that you will think about for a fortnight.

What changes with age is that the child arrives with a version of events. They know why they are with you, or they think they do. They can tell you they hate it. They can also tell you when something helps, which younger children cannot.

Our own child development guidance puts it plainly. By eight, most children have passed their early physical milestones. Their grammar is close to adult. They understand that other people have feelings and can stop to think about them. Children between nine and twelve feel things strongly and know that everyone else does too.

So you are dealing with someone who can name what is happening. That is the difficulty and the gift in the same person.

What does a child this age need from you?

Less than people fear. It is mostly repetition.

• The same reaction on Friday that you gave on Monday
• Being told why you are annoyed, not just that you are
• Food they recognise, at roughly the same time each day
• Somebody who turns up to parents’ evening
• A hobby that is theirs and has nothing to do with being in care
• Time, because trust built at eight takes longer than trust built at two

That last one is the honest bit. Our attachment guidance says it directly: reversing the damage takes time, especially if the child is older. Persevere and be patient. Nobody is going to pretend six weeks of steady breakfasts undoes six years.

You do not need to be extraordinary. You need to be the same person every day.

What about school?

This is where fostering an older child gets practical, and where you can see progress written down.

Every child in care has a Personal Education Plan. It should be updated each term, or sooner if something significant happens, like a set of results or a change of school. You contribute to it and so should the child.

Schools in England receive pupil premium plus for looked-after pupils, set by the Department for Education at 2,690 pounds per pupil for 2026 to 2027. The local authority decides how much of that reaches the school, and the virtual school head is the person whose job is to champion the education of that authority’s children in care. If you think a child needs a special educational needs assessment, say so. Ask your supervising social worker to push it.

Fostering Hearts also has its own lead education consultant who tracks how children in our care are doing at school. Not as a report you never see: as somebody you can ring when a school is being slow.

One thing worth knowing early. Poor academic performance, needing extra support, or something you did as a carer are not lawful reasons to exclude a child. Schools have a duty to try to prevent the exclusion of children in care.

Do I need experience with older children?

No.

You need to be over 21 and emotionally resilient, with a stable home and a spare bedroom. You do not need to own that home. Being married, having raised children of your own, holding a childcare qualification: none of it is required.

Everything else is trained. Skills to Foster comes first, then the ongoing training after approval. If you are wondering what would actually rule you out, we have written about what disqualifies people, and the list is shorter than most people assume.

Approval takes four to six months from application to panel.

What does it pay?

The government sets a weekly minimum. For 2026 to 2027, outside London and the South East, it is 201 pounds for a child aged 5 to 10, 227 pounds for 11 to 15 and 267 pounds for 16 to 17.

Fostering Hearts pays 479.50 pounds a week for a child aged 0 to 10 and 507.50 pounds for a young person aged 11 or over, per child, while they are placed with you. Higher-needs placements attract an enhanced fee of roughly 100 to 200 pounds a week on top.

We also put money towards our carers’ council tax as part of the reward package. There is more detail in our guide to foster carer allowance and pay.

Fostering is paid work. It is also work you can do alongside a job, depending on the placement, which is worth talking through rather than assuming.

What happens when it goes badly on a Wednesday?

You ring somebody. That is the whole answer.

Our supervising social workers hold around six families each, which is a deliberately small number. It means the person who picks up knows the child’s name and knows what happened last month without reading a file first.

One carer told our Ofsted inspectors: “My supervising social worker has been an absolute lifeline for me. I feel so much more confident in my role because of her.”

Behaviour that looks like defiance is usually something else. We have written separately about what sits underneath challenging behaviour, and it is the single most useful thing to read before a child aged eight or older moves in.

You will not be doing this on your own

Ofsted inspected us between 18 and 22 November 2024 and called us a good agency with outstanding leadership and management. A local authority commissioner described our work as creative and child-centred.

Some of what that looks like day to day:

• A Youth Council of children we look after, who have written questions used by our fostering panel
• Pocket-sized cards children carry with contact details, so they can raise a worry without asking you for a phone number
• Independence workshops covering first aid, vaping, and rights and entitlements
• Training that keeps going long after approval, not a course you sit once

We currently need carers for teenagers, for brothers and sisters who should not be split up, for long-term homes, and for children aged eight and over. You can read more about who needs fostering across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Birmingham.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a spare bedroom for a child aged 8 or over?

Yes. A child of school age needs their own room. The exception in fostering is a baby under two, who can sleep in a cot in the carer’s room, and that does not apply here.

Can I look after an older child if I have young children of my own?

Often, yes. It depends on the individual match rather than a rule, and birth order matters more than age gap. Your assessing social worker will talk this through with you and your children.

Will a child of eight or ten still want me around?

More than they will admit. Older children ask for less and need roughly the same. The bedtime chat moves to the car, or the washing-up.

How much do foster carers get paid for an older child?

Fostering Hearts pays 507.50 pounds a week for a young person aged 11 or over and 479.50 pounds for a child aged 0 to 10, per child while placed, with an enhanced fee for higher-needs placements. The government minimum for 2026 to 2027 outside London and the South East is 227 pounds a week for a child aged 11 to 15.

How long does it take to be approved?

Four to six months, from your application to fostering panel.