Mediate UK vs National Family Mediation: Services, Legal Aid and Appointment Options Compared
National Family Mediation and Mediate UK are both national routes into family mediation in England and Wales, but they are different kinds of organisation. National Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1074796, headquartered in Exeter, which describes itself as the largest family mediation provider in England and Wales and publishes its own figures of more than 500 locations and around 16,000 mediations a year. Mediate UK is a private company, a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127, working from 30 locations across 18 counties plus online since 2011. Both hold Legal Aid Agency contracts, both work through mediators registered with the Family Mediation Council, and both can issue the MIAM certificate the family court requires. The difference is structural.
Mediate UK and National Family Mediation compared
| Factor | Mediate UK | National Family Mediation |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Single company | Charity network of local member services |
| Charity number | Not a charity, Family Legal Ltd company number 16431127 | 1074796 |
| History | Trading since 2011 | Current charity incorporated 26 February 1999, predecessor charity 288123 founded 1982 |
| Locations | 30 across 18 counties, plus online nationwide | More than 500, National Family Mediation's own published figure |
| MIAMs in 2025 | 1,346 | Not published |
| Joint sessions in 2025 | 948 | Around 16,000 a year across all activity, National Family Mediation's own figure |
| Published price | £115 plus VAT online MIAM, £120 per person per hour plus VAT for joint sessions | Most people pay between £600 and £1,000 per person, National Family Mediation's published national range |
| Legal aid | Yes | Yes |
| £500 voucher | Applied for on the client's behalf where the case qualifies | Available, the mediator applies under the Family Mediation Council scheme |
| Urgent MIAM | £185 plus VAT, booked within 48 hours, court form signed within 24 hours | Depends on the local service |
| Child-inclusive mediation | £199 per parent plus VAT | Yes, availability varies locally |
| Consent order drafting | Family lawyer drafting from £1,649 plus VAT per person | Not found on National Family Mediation's published pages |
| Published outcome data | Yes | Not found |
What National Family Mediation offers
National Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1074796, based in Exeter and delivering mediation through local member services. It states that it works from more than 500 locations and handles around 16,000 mediations a year. Both are the charity's own figures, and they are not consistent between its pages: the homepage calls the 16,000 sessions, while the About page calls them mediations.
The founding date needs the same care. National Family Mediation traces its history to 1982, but that date belongs to a predecessor charity, number 288123, removed from the register on 13 December 1999. The current entity was incorporated on 26 February 1999.
National Family Mediation holds a Legal Aid Agency contract across its network, so mediation is free to clients who qualify on means. National Family Mediation offers online mediation and child-inclusive mediation, and publishes a national price guide stating that most people pay between £600 and £1,000 per person.
The real advantages are scale, reach and charitable status. A network covering most of England and Wales is something no commercial provider here matches, and for anyone who wants a not-for-profit organisation, or who lives somewhere with little local choice, it is the obvious first call.
What Mediate UK offers
Mediate UK holds over 715 reviews rated 4.8 out of 5 on reviews.co.uk, according to its published review profile checked in August 2026, and its mediators are registered with the Family Mediation Council.
Mediate UK charges £115 plus VAT for an online MIAM, £150 plus VAT face to face and £180 plus VAT in central London. Joint sessions cost £120 per person per hour plus VAT online and run 90 minutes as standard. Child-inclusive mediation costs £199 per parent plus VAT. An urgent MIAM costs £185 plus VAT, booked within 48 hours, with the court form signed and sent within 24 hours of the appointment.
Mediate UK holds a Legal Aid Agency contract and applies for the £500 family mediation voucher on the client's behalf where a case qualifies, after asking the client to confirm consent.
Mediate UK publishes its outcomes. Mediate UK attended 1,346 MIAMs and held 948 joint mediation sessions in 2025, and reports that, of the clients who completed joint mediation with the service that year, 90% reached full or partial agreement, with 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. For context, the Family Mediation Council's survey of 122 mediators and 2,161 cases, carried out in autumn 2019 and published on 20 January 2020, put the national figure at over 70%.
The charity network model against the single company model
This is the difference that affects most people's experience. National Family Mediation's member services are separate organisations working under a shared name and shared standards, each running its own diary and waiting list, so the experience in Devon is not necessarily the experience in Durham. Price guidance, though, is published nationally by the charity.
Mediate UK runs a single price list, a single booking system and one panel of mediators across England and Wales, so two people living in different cities book through the same organisation on the same terms.
Neither model is better in principle. A charity network reaches places a company will not open an office in. A single company gives predictable pricing and a consistent process. Which matters more depends on where the two people live.
Legal aid compared
Both hold Legal Aid Agency contracts, so the funding available to a client is the same. Legally aided family mediation is delivered under the Family Mediation category of the Legal Aid Agency Standard Civil Contract, only by a provider holding that contract, and the mediator must hold FMCA accreditation.
Legal aid for mediation is means tested only and needs no evidence of domestic abuse. Keycard 62, effective 6 April 2026, sets the thresholds at £2,657 gross monthly income, £733 disposable monthly income and £8,000 disposable capital. Where one person qualifies and the other does not, gov.uk states that legal aid covers a MIAM and the first mediation session for both parents after the MIAM. Separately, the £500 family mediation voucher can apply to a child arrangements case, is capped at £500 per family, does not cover the MIAM, and is applied for by the mediator.
National Family Mediation has decades of legal aid delivery behind it, and Mediate UK's contract is newer, but the funding a client receives is identical.
What happens after agreement is reached
A mediated financial agreement is not binding until a court approves it as a consent order, at a court fee of £62 under the fee order in force since 13 July 2026.
Mediate UK offers a package from £1,649 plus VAT per person, with a £1,799 tier for complex cases, covering a MIAM, up to four hours of joint mediation, an open financial statement, a memorandum of understanding, family lawyer drafting, form A and the D81, and filing with the court. The package excludes HMCTS fees, identity verification at £12 plus VAT per person, and independent legal advice. No equivalent drafting product is published on National Family Mediation's own pages.
Couples who have already agreed and need only the paperwork have a cheaper option than either. A clean break consent order is drafted for £499 including VAT at familylawservice.co.uk, including the D81 and form A, and that drafting is paralegal-drafted. It does not cover pension sharing, business assets or multiple properties. Guidance on the process is published at consentorder.org.uk. Both of those sites are operated by Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127, which also operates Mediate UK, so they are not independent of one side of this comparison.
Which should you choose?
National Family Mediation is likely to fit where:
- Using a registered charity matters to the people involved.
- The two people live outside a major population centre.
- The nearest member service has good local availability.
- A long institutional history in family mediation carries weight.
Mediate UK is likely to fit where:
- A fixed published price is wanted before committing.
- The two people now live in different parts of the country.
- An urgent MIAM is needed for a court deadline.
- The consent order should be handled inside the same process.
- Published outcome data matters when choosing.
Both are legitimate choices, and a MIAM with either costs little relative to the court fees that follow if no agreement is reached. Anyone unsure whether a MIAM is needed can use the free "Do I Need a MIAM?" calculator published by Mediate UK, which checks the exemption categories in under 60 seconds.
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.