First4Adoption

What First4Adoption does

First4Adoption is the national adoption information service for England, providing impartial information, guidance, and training to people considering adoption as a route to building a family. It serves prospective adopters across England, including singles, couples, LGBT+ individuals, those with existing children, and people with fertility issues, and also covers Early Permanence pathways (Fostering for Adoption, Concurrent Planning), fostering, Special Guardianship, and Kinship Care under its "Be my family" remit. The core platform is a web-based information portal at first4adoption.org.uk, supplemented by a searchable agency directory covering all of England (with Ofsted ratings and regional filters), an events listing platform, a downloadable resources library, an image library for adoption agency recruitment campaigns, and the First Steps online pre-adoption training course delivered via a dedicated LMS (desktop, tablet, and mobile). All services are provided free of charge to end users.

First4Adoption was established in 2013 with Department for Education funding and transitioned in April 2018 to being operated under licence by Coram Children's Legal Centre, part of the Coram charitable group. The operating model is a publicly funded information service: there is no user fee; the cost base is met via a licensing arrangement routed through Coram. Technology is described as a web-based platform with an LMS, with no AI/ML components, APIs, or proprietary frameworks disclosed. Partnerships are concentrated within the Coram ecosystem, notably with Adoption UK and Coram Children's Legal Centre on First Steps, and with adoption agencies across England that participate in the directory and events listings as unpaid contributors. Geographic reach is explicitly bounded to England; Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have separate adoption authorities and are out of scope.

Name

First4Adoption

Legal name

First44Adoption (operated by Coram Children's Legal Centre)

Website

https://first4adoption.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

First4Adoption is the national adoption information service for England, operated under licence by Coram. It provides free impartial information, an agency directory, events listings, downloadable resources, and the First Steps pre-adoption training course to prospective adopters across England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Adoption Information Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Parenting Skills & Child Development Education (EDACALAA)

Keywords

• Adoption information services
• Pre-adoption training
• Adoption agency directory
• Adoption support resources
• Fostering information

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government-funded information service: First4Adoption was originally funded by the Department for Education from 2013 until April 2018. The service is now provided via licence by Coram. As a public interest information service, revenue appears to come from government licensing arrangements rather than direct user fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

First4Adoption delivers a free national adoption information service for England, providing impartial guidance on who can adopt, the adoption process, and agency options, alongside a searchable agency directory covering all of England, downloadable guides, and event listings. The First Steps online pre-adoption training course complements the core service, offering free expert-led e-learning to prospective adopters. The service is provided under licence by Coram Children's Legal Centre.

Product overview

First4Adoption operates as a unified national information service platform for adoption in England, comprising the core First4Adoption website as the primary portal, supplemented by the First Steps online training module, a downloadable resources library, an image library for agency use, an agency finder directory, and an events listing system. The service is provided via licence by Coram and was originally funded by the Department for Education until April 2018. All components work together to guide prospective adopters through the adoption journey from initial research through to connecting with agencies and attending information events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• First Steps: Free online pre-adoption training course from First4Adoption for people considering adoption in England. Introduces key topics including children's early experiences, attachment, trauma, identity, contact and adoptive family life.

Products and services

• First4Adoption National Information Service The designated national information service for adoption in England, providing clear and impartial information about who can adopt, the adoption process, and adoption agency options. Connects prospective adopters with adoption agencies across England through a searchable directory and offers downloadable resources, event listings, and guidance across the adoption journey. Free to access; available to individuals and couples in England considering adoption.
• First Steps Online Training Platform A free online pre-adoption training course for people considering adoption in England. Delivered via a learning platform accessible on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, it provides expert guidance, real-life case studies, audio lessons, interactive exercises, and quizzes covering children's early experiences, attachment, identity, transitions, and family life. Developed in association with Coram, Adoption UK, and Coram Children's Legal Centre.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CoramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2018First4Adoption is provided via licence by Coram. Coram Children’s Legal Centre runs First4Adoption and is the data controller responsible for processing and storing personal data. The service was previously funded by the Department for Education (2013-2018) and transitioned to Coram in April 2018.
• First Steps consortium (Coram, Adoption UK, Coram Children’s Legal Centre)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst Steps is a project of First4Adoption, developed in association with Coram, Adoption UK, and Coram Children’s Legal Centre. The platform provides free pre-adoption training and is a collaborative initiative among these organizations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Adoption UK: The UK's leading adoption charity and self-described voice of adopters, providing peer support, training, and information. Co-develops First Steps with First4Adoption and addresses overlapping prospective-adopter and adoptive-family audiences with similar services.
• PAC-UK (Post Adoption Centre UK): Specialist UK charity providing post-adoption support, counselling, and advice to birth families, adopted people, and adoptive families. Comparable as a UK-based adoption-focused nonprofit offering information and support services to overlapping user segments.
• New Family Social: UK charity supporting LGBT+ adopters, foster carers, and special guardians. Directly comparable as a nonprofit serving prospective adopters with information, peer networks, and preparation resources for a defined segment also addressed by First4Adoption.

Broad incumbents

• Coram: First4Adoption's parent charity and one of the UK's oldest children's charities. Operates a much broader portfolio of adoption and child welfare services (including Coram IAC for intercountry adoption and Ambitious for Adoption), of which First4Adoption is one specialised information channel.
• Barnardo's: One of the UK's largest children's charities, providing adoption services, fostering, and family support across multiple regions. Operates adoption agencies that compete with First4Adoption's agency directory while also overlapping on information provision.
• TACT (The Adolescent and Children's Trust): Large UK adoption and fostering charity operating as a voluntary adoption agency. Provides adoption information and recruitment campaigns regionally, overlapping with First4Adoption's information service but from the agency-supply side.
• Action for Children: Major UK children's charity providing adoption, fostering, and family support services. Overlaps with First4Adoption on adoption-related information and recruitment but operates at much broader scope across child welfare.
• British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) / CoramBAAF: Membership and policy body for adoption and fostering professionals in the UK (now part of the Coram family). Provides information and resources aimed at practitioners and agencies, a partial overlap with First4Adoption's prospective-adopter information mission.

Others

• Family Lives: UK charity providing parenting support, family advice, and information helplines. Adjacent rather than directly competing, but serves overlapping family-formation audiences that First4Adoption could plausibly expand into.

Regional players

• National Adoption Service for Wales: The equivalent national adoption information and coordination body for Wales. Plays the same national-information role as First4Adoption but in a separate UK nation, making it a parallel rather than competing service.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/First4Adoption
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCirDUvGY6zmc9O9OOa1Pbww/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/First4Adoption

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First4Adoption