If you are considering family mediation training, you probably want to know what the course will actually teach you.
An FMC approved foundation course covers far more than communication techniques. You will study how family mediation works, how mediators assess whether it is suitable and how they support discussions about children and finances. You will also learn about safeguarding, professional boundaries, financial disclosure and the documents used during the process.
The course provides the initial training required to begin working towards accreditation. It does not make you a fully accredited family mediator as soon as you receive your certificate.
All FMC approved courses must cover the required professional standards. The main differences between providers are likely to be how the material is taught, how much opportunity you receive to practise and what support is available while you are learning.
What is foundation training designed to teach you?
The course begins with the role of the family mediator.
A mediator works impartially with both participants. You do not represent either person, decide what should happen or advise them about the outcome they should accept. Your responsibility is to manage a fair and structured process in which both people can consider their options and make informed decisions.
You will study the principles that guide family mediation, including impartiality, confidentiality, voluntary participation and participant decision making. You will also learn that these principles have limits. Confidentiality may need to be broken where there is a serious safeguarding concern, for example.
Professional boundaries form an important part of the training. Family mediators provide balanced legal and practical information, but they do not give legal advice. You will learn how to explain this distinction and when participants should be encouraged to obtain advice from a solicitor or another professional.
The course also introduces the legal context in which family mediation operates. You do not need to become a family lawyer. You do need enough legal understanding to provide accurate information, recognise when specialist advice may be required and avoid stepping outside the mediator’s role.
How does mediation begin and how is suitability assessed?
Family mediation does not begin with both participants sitting in a joint session.
Each person usually attends an individual initial meeting first. This is commonly called a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, or MIAM. Foundation training teaches you the purpose and structure of this meeting.
You will learn how a mediator explains the process, gathers relevant information and explores what the person wants to address. You will also consider the different ways mediation can take place, including joint and separate sessions.
A substantial part of the initial meeting concerns safety and suitability. You will learn how mediators screen for domestic abuse, coercive or controlling behaviour, safeguarding concerns, vulnerability and power imbalances.
This is not treated as a one-off checklist. Suitability must be considered throughout the case. Circumstances can change, and information may emerge later that affects whether mediation should continue or how it should be conducted.
The course will also cover how mediators respond when mediation is not appropriate. This may include providing information about other forms of dispute resolution, legal services, domestic abuse support or emergency protection.
Veritas learners have the opportunity to observe a live MIAM. This helps you see how an experienced mediator handles sensitive questions, explains professional boundaries and manages an assessment in a real case.
What will you learn about children and finances?
FMC approved foundation training covers both children and financial mediation. You are expected to understand how to work with each area and how they may overlap following separation.
In children matters, you will study the types of decisions parents may need to make about their children’s care. These may include living arrangements, time with each parent, education, holidays and communication.
You will learn how to keep the child’s welfare and perspective in mind while ensuring that responsibility for decisions remains with the adults. The course also introduces the voice of the child and Child Inclusive Mediation.
Foundation training does not qualify you to consult children directly. Mediators who want to offer Child Inclusive Mediation must complete separate approved training and meet the relevant professional requirements.
Financial mediation requires a different type of process. Before participants can consider proposals, they usually need to provide full financial information.
You will learn about financial disclosure and the information that may be required, including income, property, mortgages, savings, debts, pensions and expenditure. You will also practise helping participants identify the issues, consider possible arrangements and test whether those arrangements are realistic.
The mediator does not decide how assets should be divided or tell either person whether a proposal is fair. You will learn how to provide balanced information, manage the discussion and encourage participants to take legal or financial advice where appropriate.
You will also study the documents used to record financial information and proposals. This includes the Open Financial Statement and the Memorandum of Understanding. You need to understand what each document records, which information is open and how any proposals reached in mediation may later be formalised.
How will Veritas teach and assess you?
Knowing the course content is not the same as being able to apply it.
The FMC requirements for foundation training require learners to practise through role play and act as the mediator several times. Each learner must receive feedback and be observed mediating a simulated case as part of the assessment.
The Veritas Family Mediation Foundation Course combines live teaching with realistic case exercises, role play, discussion and independent learning through its Virtual Learning Environment.
During practical work, Veritas uses a maximum ratio of six learners to one tutor. This gives you repeated opportunities to take part, test your understanding and receive feedback on your decisions and interventions.
The course tutors are practising accredited family mediators. They are also qualified teachers and experienced PPCs. They can explain the professional standards, show how those standards apply in practice and identify where your work needs to improve.
The Virtual Learning Environment supports the live sessions with videos, readings, templates, case studies, quizzes and reflective work. Veritas also includes additional safeguarding training, alongside the safeguarding content required within the foundation course.
You will practise the communication and process skills used by mediators, including listening, questioning, summarising, reframing and managing difficult discussions. These are explained separately in the Veritas guide to the mediation skills you need to become a family mediator.
Assessment includes practical and written work. You will need to demonstrate that you can apply the course material in simulated children and financial cases, rather than simply repeat the theory.
What will completing the course allow you to do?
By the end of the course, you should understand how a family mediation case is managed from the initial individual meeting through to the recording of any proposals.
You will have studied professional ethics, suitability, safeguarding, child arrangements, financial disclosure, legal information and mediation documents. You will also have practised applying that knowledge through simulated cases and received feedback on your work.
Passing the course confirms that you have met the required foundation training standard. It does not award FMCA status or mean that you can immediately present yourself as a fully accredited family mediator.
After completing the course, you can begin the next stage of professional development and register with the FMC as working towards accreditation. The Veritas article on how to become an accredited family mediator explains that process separately.
When comparing foundation courses, check that the provider is currently approved by the FMC. Then look at how the course is delivered, who teaches it, how often you will practise and what feedback and support you will receive. Those details affect how well you can apply the required content after the course ends.