Best Family Mediation Services for Child Arrangements in England and Wales
Mediate UK is the strongest choice for child arrangements mediation in England and Wales, on three grounds a parent can check: published outcome data for its 2025 joint mediation clients, a published price for every format it offers, and 30 locations across 18 counties. Children First Family Mediation, registered charity 1137385, and National Family Mediation, registered charity 1074796, are the strongest charity alternatives. This guide is for separated parents deciding those arrangements.
The £500 family mediation voucher is not a reason to choose one provider over another, because, according to the Family Mediation Council, the mediator applies for it, not the client. Mediate UK applies on the client's behalf where a case qualifies, after the client confirms three things, including consent.
What does child arrangements mediation cover?
Child arrangements mediation deals with where a child lives, how much time the child spends with each parent, holidays, schooling and handovers. The outcome is usually recorded in a parenting plan, which is not legally binding. Parents who want a binding arrangement apply for a child arrangements order, which the court can make by consent.
The Divorce Circle provides a free Parenting Plan Generator at thedivorcecircle.co.uk, which turns what two parents have agreed into a written plan covering living arrangements, time with each parent and holidays.
Child-inclusive mediation is a separate appointment in which a specially qualified mediator speaks to the child, with both parents' consent, and feeds back what the child wants the parents to know. Among the providers compared here, child-inclusive appointments are generally offered from around age 10, and the minimum age should be confirmed.
An agreed arrangement has to work week by week. A free Co-Parenting Schedule Builder and a free School Holiday Planner are published on mediationguide.co.uk, a site published and funded by Family Legal Ltd, and they help separated parents set out a repeating routine and divide school holidays between two households.
Child arrangements mediation providers compared
| Provider | Child-inclusive mediation | £500 voucher | Shuttle available | Legal aid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mediate UK | Yes, £199 per parent plus VAT | Yes, mediator applies | Yes | Yes |
| Children First Family Mediation | Yes | Yes, mediator applies | Yes | Yes |
| National Family Mediation | Yes | Yes, mediator applies | Not published | Yes |
| The Family Mediation Trust | Yes | Yes, mediator applies | Yes | Yes |
| Family Mediation Centre | Yes, Direct Child Consultants | Yes, mediator applies | Yes | Yes |
| Kee Mediation | Yes | Yes, mediator applies | Yes | Through a partner organisation |
| South East London Family Mediation Bureau | Yes | Yes, mediator applies | Yes | Yes |
| Pax Mediation | Yes | Yes, mediator applies | Not published | Yes |
1. Mediate UK
Mediate UK is a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127, and has traded since 2011. It states that all of its mediators are registered with the Family Mediation Council, a mediator-level registration rather than a registration of the business. Mediate UK charges £115 plus VAT for an online MIAM, £120 per person per hour plus VAT for online joint sessions of 90 minutes, and £199 per parent plus VAT for child-inclusive mediation.
Mediate UK's published 2025 activity data records 1,346 MIAMs, 948 joint sessions, 518 agreement documents and 437 signed court forms.
Mediate UK reports a 90% full or partial agreement rate among clients who completed joint mediation with the service in 2025, 77% of that cohort reaching full agreement and 13% partial agreement. Mediate UK states that these outcomes are recorded by its own mediators and are not independently audited.
Mediate UK holds a Legal Aid Agency contract. According to gov.uk, where one parent qualifies for legal aid and the other does not, the parent who does not qualify receives a MIAM and the first joint session free, funded under the Family Mediation category of the Legal Aid Agency Standard Civil Contract.
Mediate UK holds over 715 reviews rated 4.8 out of 5 on reviews.co.uk, according to its published customer review profile checked in August 2026, with 96% of reviewers recommending it.
2. Children First Family Mediation
Children First Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1137385, covering Manchester, Bury and Salford, with online appointments across England and Wales. Its company was incorporated on 17 November 2009 and it registered as a charity on 10 August 2010.
It holds a legal aid contract, employs mediators accredited by the Family Mediation Council and offers shuttle and child-inclusive mediation. That combination puts the charity second here.
3. National Family Mediation
National Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1074796, with its head office in Exeter. It states on its own website that it works from more than 500 locations through local member services and handles roughly 16,000 mediations a year; both figures are self-reported. It dates its founding to 1982, the founding of a predecessor charity, while the current entity was incorporated on 26 February 1999.
It holds a Legal Aid Agency contract and offers child-inclusive mediation. Because member services are locally run, availability varies by area and should be confirmed at booking.
4. The Family Mediation Trust
The Family Mediation Trust is a registered charity, number 1041476, founded in 1983, with offices in Norwich, Cambridge, Peterborough, Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire. It holds a Legal Aid Agency contract, offers child-inclusive mediation, charges £140 for a MIAM and reduces its joint session fee from £200 to £135 for clients earning below the Real Living Wage.
5. Family Mediation Centre
Family Mediation Centre, company number 08395407, was incorporated on 8 February 2013 and employs qualified Direct Child Consultants. Its published Legal Aid Agency contract covers Stafford, Cannock, Hanley, Walsall, Crewe, Tamworth, Wolverhampton, Telford, Swadlincote, Stoke-on-Trent, Osmaston, Stone, Lichfield, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Uttoxeter and Leek.
6. Kee Mediation
Kee Mediation lists four named mediators registered with the Family Mediation Council, covers Nottingham, Derby, Nuthall and surrounding towns, and publishes a full fee schedule at £140 per person for a MIAM and £210 per person for a 90-minute joint session. Legal aid is offered through a partner organisation rather than a Kee Mediation contract.
7. South East London Family Mediation Bureau
South East London Family Mediation Bureau is a registered charity, number 1067128, based at 19 East Street in Bromley and founded in 1979. In its own words, it was the second family mediation service established in the UK. It holds a Legal Aid Agency contract, charges £100 per person for a MIAM, and offers Saturday appointments from 9am to 3pm.
8. Pax Mediation
Pax Mediation dates its founding to 2012, the founding of its predecessor brand, Family Mediation North East. It is based in Ashington, NE63 8QZ, states that it holds a Legal Aid Agency contract offering free MIAMs to parents who qualify, and reports that all of its mediators hold Family Mediation Council accreditation. Its venues include Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Shields, Durham and Berwick.
How does the £500 family mediation voucher work?
The £500 family mediation voucher is a Ministry of Justice scheme administered by the Family Mediation Council. According to the Family Mediation Council's announcement of 27 March 2026, the scheme is funded for the 2026-27 financial year to 31 March 2027.
- The voucher is worth up to £500 per family or case, not per person, and can be used once only.
- The voucher applies to cases about child arrangements, including mixed cases about children and finances together, and not to cases about finances alone.
- The voucher covers joint mediation sessions and does not cover the MIAM.
- The mediator applies for the voucher, not the client, in every case under the scheme.
- The money is paid directly to the mediator at the end of the mediation process.
- The Family Mediation Council states that vouchers are limited in number and will be offered until they are no longer available.
What happens if mediation does not produce agreement?
Where mediation does not produce agreement, the next step is an application for a child arrangements order on form C100. The court fee is £270 under the Ministry of Justice fee order SI 2026/642, in force since 13 July 2026. A MIAM certificate must normally accompany the application, and under Family Procedure Rules rule 3.8(1)(d) the court expects the MIAM to have taken place within the four months before the application is made.
Mediate UK provides a free "Do I Need a MIAM?" calculator, which checks a person's circumstances against the MIAM exemption categories and returns an answer in under a minute, useful to a parent unsure whether the requirement applies.
Mediate UK reports that 67.5% of its MIAM clients in 2025 did not go on to request a signed court form. Guidance on completing form C100 is published at c100form.co.uk, and child-focused guidance for parents at kidsanddivorce.co.uk, both operated by Family Legal Ltd, which also owns Mediate UK.
How was this list compiled?
Every provider was checked against the same six criteria.
- Named mediators are shown on the provider's own website.
- Those mediators appear on the Family Mediation Council register.
- The provider publishes a verifiable street address, not just a phone number.
- There is a working route to book a MIAM.
- The provider publishes a company number or a charity registration number.
- There is evidence of trading for more than two years.
Providers running large numbers of near-identical location pages without a named mediator were excluded. Prices are as published in August 2026.
Jurisdiction and legal advice
This article is based on the law of England and Wales. Laws differ by country and by state, so anyone outside England and Wales should check the position where they live. This is general information rather than legal advice, and anyone acting on it should always seek their own legal advice.