Calculate your estimated Special Guardianship Allowance in the UK.
Special Guardianship Allowance Calculator
England and Wales, using official 2026/27 minimum rates
Estimated weekly allowance
Your council's weekly rates
Many councils pay more than the national minimum. Type the weekly rates from your council's allowance schedule. Leave a box empty to keep the national rate for that age.
Council's means-test settings
Most councils use the Department for Education's standardised model: your disposable income (income left after housing and essential bills) is compared with the Universal Credit standard allowance for your household, plus an uplift most councils add — commonly 25%. Only income above that line is tapered, usually 50p per £1. Change these only if your council's letter gives different figures.
How your figure is worked out
Every step uses your own numbers, so you can check it against your council's assessment.
Worth checking with your council
Why this calculator is accurate: it uses the official National Minimum Fostering Allowance rates for England and Wales, the real Universal Credit standard allowance to work out your council's income threshold, and applies the same 50% taper most local authorities use — not a rough national average. Every figure it shows you can be checked step by step against your own council's assessment.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Special Guardianship Allowance?
- How the Special Guardianship Allowance Is Calculated
- Current Fostering Allowance Rates Used in This Calculator
- Child Benefit Rates
- Is the Special Guardianship Allowance Means Tested?
- How to Use This Special Guardianship Allowance Calculator
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Add This Calculator to Your Website
If you're a grandparent, aunt, uncle or family friend who has taken on a Special Guardianship Order for a child, working out what financial support you're entitled to can feel like guesswork. Councils don't publish a simple number — the Special Guardianship Allowance depends on where you live, how many children you're caring for, their ages, and a means test based on your household income. Our Special Guardianship Allowance calculator was built to cut through that uncertainty and give you a genuinely accurate weekly, monthly and yearly estimate in under a minute, using the same rates and methodology your local authority actually applies.
What Is the Special Guardianship Allowance?
A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) gives a carer parental responsibility for a child, usually a relative, until they turn 18. Because many special guardians take in a child who would otherwise have remained in the care system, local authorities can pay an ongoing Special Guardianship Allowance to help with the cost of raising them.
This allowance is discretionary rather than automatic — every council has to have a policy for assessing it, but how much (if anything) you receive depends on your financial circumstances. It's generally based on the fostering allowance that would have been paid for the same child, minus a means-tested deduction and minus Child Benefit.
How the Special Guardianship Allowance Is Calculated
Most councils in England and Wales follow a version of the same basic framework:
- Start with the maximum rate — the National Minimum Fostering Allowance for the child's age and your region, plus any enhancement for additional needs.
- Apply a means test — your household's disposable income (what's left after housing costs and essential bills) is compared against an income threshold based on your household type, and anything above that line is tapered, usually at 50p per extra £1.
- Deduct Child Benefit — because special guardians can claim Child Benefit for the child (unlike most foster carers), most councils take this off the final figure to avoid paying twice.
What's left is your estimated weekly Special Guardianship Allowance. This calculator runs through exactly this process using your own numbers, and shows the full breakdown so you can see where every pound comes from.
Current Fostering Allowance Rates Used in This Calculator
Special Guardianship Allowance is based on the National Minimum Fostering Allowance, which is set per week by age band and varies between London, the South East, the rest of England, and Wales.
| Child's Age | Rest of England | South East | London | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 2 years | £176 | £195 | £205 | £229 |
| 3 – 4 years | £182 | £203 | £208 | £229 |
| 5 – 10 years | £201 | £223 | £233 | £208 |
| 11 – 15 years | £227 | £255 | £266 | £208 |
| 16 – 17 years | £267 | £298 | £309 | £260 |
Figures are weekly amounts, before any means test or Child Benefit deduction. Many councils pay above these national minimums, which is why the calculator lets you enter your own council's rates if you know them.
England
East
Child Benefit Rates
Because special guardians can claim Child Benefit, most councils subtract it from the allowance before paying you. The calculator applies this automatically (you can switch it off if your council doesn't).
| Child Benefit Rate | Weekly Amount |
|---|---|
| Eldest or only child | £27.05 |
| Each additional child | £17.90 |
Is the Special Guardianship Allowance Means Tested?
Yes, in almost all cases. The exception is former foster carers — if you were approved as the child's foster carer and the Special Guardianship Order was made less than two years ago, most councils will pay the full rate without a means test during that protected period.
After that, or if you weren't the child's foster carer, your council works out your disposable income — your household income minus housing costs and essential bills — and compares it to an income threshold based on whether you're single or part of a couple. Only the amount above that threshold is tapered, usually at 50%, and deducted from the maximum allowance. If your disposable income is below the threshold, you're entitled to the full rate.
Here's a simplified example of how the pieces fit together for one child:
Example only — use the calculator above with your own figures for an accurate result.
How to Use This Special Guardianship Allowance Calculator
The calculator is split into three short steps. Here's exactly what each part does.
Step 1: Child and Area
Where you live
- England or Wales — Special Guardianship Orders only apply in England and Wales, so pick whichever applies to you.
- Area rate — for England, choose Rest of England, South East, or London. This changes the base rate, since London and the South East pay more to reflect the higher cost of living.
Children under the order
- Add up to four children and set each one's age band. The weekly rate for each child updates automatically next to their row.
- Toggle Extra needs for a child with additional support needs — this adds an uplift on top of the standard rate, which you can adjust if your council quotes a different percentage.
- Use Use my council's rates if you already know what your specific council pays (many pay above the national minimum) — enter their figures and the calculator will use those instead.
Step 2: Household
Former foster carer
- If you were the child's approved foster carer before the Special Guardianship Order was made, switch this on.
- Then select whether the order was made under or over two years ago — under two years usually means the full rate is paid with no means test.
Your household and income
- Your household — single carer or couple. This sets the income threshold used in the means test, since couples are allowed a higher threshold than single carers.
- Household income, housing costs and other essential bills — enter your monthly figures. These are used to work out your disposable income.
- Savings is optional and for your own reference — some councils treat savings differently, which is flagged in your results if relevant.
Child Benefit toggles
- Take off Child Benefit is on by default, matching most councils' policy. Turn it off if yours doesn't deduct it.
- I already get Child Benefit for another child switches the first child in your order to the lower additional-child rate instead of the eldest-child rate.
Means test settings
- For anyone who wants to match their council's exact figures: adjust the age band (25 or over), the threshold uplift percentage, and the taper rate here. These default to the standard model most councils use.
Step 3: Your Result
- The large figure in the centre is your estimated weekly allowance, with monthly, yearly and percentage-of-maximum figures alongside it.
- The breakdown below shows exactly how the figure was reached — the maximum, the means-test deduction, the Child Benefit deduction, and what's left.
- Things worth checking with your council lists anything specific to your situation that's worth raising — for example, if you're a former foster carer whose two-year protection has ended, or if your savings might be treated differently.
- How it's worked out shows every single step of the calculation using your own numbers, so you can compare it line by line with any assessment your council sends you.
- Use Edit inputs to go back and change any figure without starting over.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the Special Guardianship Allowance per week?
Is the Special Guardianship Allowance means tested?
Does the Special Guardianship Allowance affect Universal Credit?
Is the Special Guardianship Allowance taxable?
Do I get Child Benefit as well as the Special Guardianship Allowance?
What happens after two years as a former foster carer?
Why does my council pay a different amount to this calculator?
Can I get the Special Guardianship Allowance for more than one child?
Add This Calculator to Your Website
Want to show this Special Guardianship Allowance calculator on your own site? Just copy the code below and paste it into your page — it will embed the live, working calculator.
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