National IFASector Survey 2026
Your data. The wider picture. Better decisions.
How does your agency’s Foster Carer recruitment and assessment compare? Share your experience in the National IFA Sector Survey 2026 and help build a clearer picture of independent fostering agencies across the UK. Every participating agency receives the shared findings, with a private agency benchmark available on request.
- Around 5 minutes
- For independent fostering agencies
- Published findings are aggregated and anonymised
Help build the IFA sector picture. For managers and recruitment leads. One response per agency.
Better insight into recruitment and assessment can help agencies support more people to become Foster Carers, and help children find the right foster family.
Why this matters
How does your agency compare?
Your agency’s figures tell one part of the story. Seeing them alongside other IFAs can help you understand recruitment, assessment timescales and the journey from enquiry to approval. This survey brings those experiences together to support better decisions.
Designed and analysed by Rasheda Meinema, a registered Social Worker with experience assessing and supporting foster families, the survey draws on questions that come up in everyday fostering practice.
Why Fosterli is running this survey
We build assessment software for fostering services and want agencies to have better evidence to work with. The survey focuses on your experience, not our product. Taking part does not sign you up for sales contact. Any findings we cite will come from the same shared report you receive.
15+ years
Working with children and families.
IFA-only
For privately owned, family-run, group-owned, charity and non-profit agencies. Local authority services are not included.
Recruitment and assessment
Understand how agencies attract Fostering Applicants and support them through to approval.
“Managers kept asking me how their numbers compared with everyone else’s, or would say ‘this is just how it is’, and I never had an evidence-based answer. That is why this survey exists.”
What you gain
IFA benchmarking to inform your next steps
Every participating agency receives the shared sector report. You can also request a private comparison of your agency’s recruitment and assessment responses with the wider dataset.
- 1
A shared sector report
See recruitment and assessment trends, alongside the challenges other agencies are facing. Use the aggregated, anonymised findings to inform planning, team discussions and board papers.
- 2
An optional private benchmark
See how your agency compares on the measures you share. Your benchmark is sent only to your agency. The comparisons available depend on the answers and data provided.
A wider range of agencies means a more useful picture for everyone.
Enquiry to approval: median days
Enquiry → approval conversion, by agency
Illustrative figures, not survey results. Your private benchmark is shared only with your agency. Published comparisons combine responses from at least five agencies.
What we’re measuring
What the IFA survey covers
Five areas of Foster Carer recruitment and assessment, from first enquiry to approval and your priorities for the year ahead. Every question is optional.
Recruitment
How many enquiries you receive, where they come from and your recruitment costs.
Assessment
How long it takes to reach fostering panel and who carries out your assessments.
Fostering Applicant journeys
Where Fostering Applicants leave the process, how long stages take and what helps people stay engaged.
Performance
Foster Carer approvals in the last 12 months and the proportion of enquiries that lead to approval.
Current priorities
The challenges your agency is facing and where you plan to focus next.
What we don’t ask for
- Details that identify a child, Foster Carer, Fostering Applicant or staff member
- Individual case records
- Your accounts, margins or reserves
- Your local authority contract or framework rates
- Information your agency is not authorised to share
Skip any question you prefer not to answer. You will still receive the shared report. Private comparisons depend on the data you provide.
Confidentiality
Your responses stay with us. Shared findings are anonymised.
Fosterli can identify your agency’s response. Findings shared publicly or across the sector combine responses from multiple agencies and remove identifying details.
How we collect
We ask which agency you represent so we can check for duplicate responses and prepare a private benchmark if you request one. To discuss your response or ask about withdrawal, email Rasheda.
What we share
Published findings are aggregated and anonymised. We do not publish a figure based on fewer than five agencies. Small groups are combined or left out to help protect confidentiality.
Your private benchmark
If you request a benchmark, we compare the measures you share with the wider dataset. Your individual report goes only to your agency and is not published.
- Who sees raw responses
- The two people at Fosterli responsible for analysing the survey. Raw agency responses are not published.
- How long we keep it
- Raw responses are deleted 12 months after the findings are published. Only the aggregated dataset is kept.
- Not a sales list
- You choose whether to hear about Fosterli through a separate opt-in. Your choice does not affect whether you receive the findings.
A picture we build together
Every agency brings a different experience. Sharing yours helps build a fuller picture of what is working in Foster Carer recruitment and where agencies need more support.
Your agency’s experience matters
Independent fostering agencies across the UK
Shared insight
Use the findings to start conversations with your team, review your approach and decide where to focus next.
The survey
Take the National IFA Sector Survey 2026
Best completed by a registered manager, recruitment lead or operations lead with an overview of recruitment and assessment. Please submit one response per independent fostering agency.
Approvals
Foster Carers approved in the last 12 months
Enquiries
Enquiries received in the last 12 months
Foster Carer count
Foster Carers currently approved with your agency
Recruitment spend
Your approximate annual recruitment spend
Use recorded figures where available. Estimates are welcome if exact figures aren’t to hand, and you can skip any question.
No. Fosterli can identify your agency’s response so we can analyse the data and prepare a private benchmark if requested. Findings shared publicly or across the sector are aggregated and anonymised.
We combine responses and remove identifying details. No published figure is based on fewer than five agencies. If a region or agency group is too small, we combine it with another group or leave it out.
Only if you choose to hear about Fosterli by ticking the separate opt-in box. You receive the shared report whether you opt in or not.
Make sure your agency is represented.
Share your agency’s experience of Foster Carer recruitment and assessment. Help build a clearer sector picture and receive findings you can use in your own planning.
- Around 5 minutes
- For UK independent fostering agencies
- Shared findings for every participant