FMA Foundation Training Course

Family Mediation Standards Board approved foundation training course

FMA Foundation Training Programme 2025 (London)

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10 – 12 February 2025 (Monday to Wednesday)

26 – 28 February 2025 (Wednesday to Friday)

17 – 18 March 2025 (Monday and Tuesday)

£2,550 plus VAT

*Your training fee includes your first year of membership of FMA. FMA then charges a reduced rate membership fee for the following two years (while you are preparing your portfolio).

Applying for the FMA's Foundation Training Course

We recommend applying at least 6 weeks before your chosen course starts; to give us enough time to process your application and you to prepare and make arrangements, if successful in obtaining a place.

All candidates should submit:

Their full and detailed application - all candidates must complete the section on setting out how they expect to establish a family mediation practice.
Their statement in support. This should be 1,000-1,500 words describing the following:
Your relevant education and qualifications; and - Your relevant professional background; and - Your relevant experience; and - Reasons for wanting to become a family mediator; and - Reasons why you feel you are suitable for family mediation training by reference to the FMC Standards.
Details of two referees who can comment on professional knowledge and competence as well as personal and professional suitability and attributes. One of your referees can be a personal referee but neither referee can be a relative. Discretionary candidates must include at least one reference from a referee who has direct experience of the candidate’s particular professional experience and confirms that this makes them a suitable candidate for family mediation training.
A non-refundable deposit of £75. This is paid upfront for FMA to process your application. If you are accepted for the course, you will then be required to pay the balance in full before the course starts.

When an application is successful, you will be notified by email and offered a place on the next foundation training course, which you will need to accept within a specified period of time and pay the course fees etc.

If an application is unsuccessful, full feedback will be given. Where possible, we will also provide advice on alternative training courses or work experience that may improve any subsequent application for family mediation training.

We are very proud of our Family Mediation Standards Board approved foundation training course and of the many wonderful mediators who have trained with us using our robust model of interdisciplinary mediation.

“I can’t praise the FMA enough for the way my training was carried out, and all that I have learnt from it. My trainers, Ruth and Helen, were absolutely brilliant, and the people in my group were all so amazing that we’re all still in touch.”

Our course introduces the theory and practice of family mediation as follows:

In addition, the course looks at:

The FMA training has really opened my eyes as to how difficult a task a Mediator has, and also as to how much more we can all do in our respective professions to champion out of court dispute resolutions. My training has been very hardcore, very interactive, via zoom and in person, and it was all really well organised. I really appreciated all the roleplays as scary as they seemed at first, as they really helped me gain the confidence and practice to deal with real people. I walked out of the first training session, already having a different mindset – wanting to encourage other legal professionals to learn more about mediation and its benefits.

The current course content is as follows: an eight-day course set over three modules, with the opportunity to observe or co-mediate before completion of your training.

Module I

Three Days Intensive Training followed by a written assignment.

Module II

Three Days Intensive Training followed by two written assignments.

Trainees who successfully complete Module II and the two written assignments can begin co-mediating and may apply for membership of the Family Mediators Association before completing Module III. Trainees can then gain some practice, either by way of observation or co-mediation whilst training and can incorporate that invaluable experience into their learning.

Module III

Two Days Intensive Training. The trainers tailor the content of the final two days to meet what they believe the training needs of the trainees are, following successful completion of the first two Modules and the written assignments.

The course is full on and relies on the participation of the whole group. Anyone missing even part of a day will be affected – subjects are not covered twice, and material missed cannot easily be made up.

FMA will withhold the training certificate if you do not complete your course in its entirety. So, you should be sure you can commit fully to the whole process and all dates.

Courses have up to 12 participants with a team of experienced and qualified family mediation trainers (ratio of 1 trainer to 6 participants). FMA uses a range of teaching techniques and learning aids; lecture, video, workshop, pair and group exercises, role-plays, case discussion, individual & group presentations and distance learning. Trainers encourage trainees to develop their skills, knowledge, aptitude and understanding of the mediation process and theory via interactive role-play and exercises designed to give a full understanding of the various models of mediation practice.

By the end of the course, trainees will be familiar with the theories and principles of mediation and should be able to decide how to apply them in the context of different styles, techniques, skills and the practical process of mediation.