How do family mediation services in England and Wales compare? A ranking of ten providers using public data
Data checked: 1 September 2026. Next scheduled review: January 2027.
Choosing a family mediation service in England and Wales usually means comparing providers on very little information. Most families never see two services side by side.
This comparison ranks ten family mediation services using five factors that anyone can check from public sources: how many public reviews a service has, its average rating, whether it holds a government legal aid contract for family mediation, whether it publishes its prices, and whether an appointment can be booked online.
Which family mediation service ranked highest?
Mediate UK ranked first with 97.5 out of 100. Mediation First ranked second with 85.0 and Disputes Mediation ranked third with 76.3. The gap between first and second place was 12.5 points.
Ten family mediation services in England and Wales ranked on five public factors, data checked 1 September 2026
| Rank | Service | Public reviews | Average rating | Legal aid contract | Published prices | Online booking | Score out of 100 |
|---|
| 1 | Mediate UK | 738 | 4.8 | Yes | Full price list | Yes | 97.5 |
| 2 | Mediation First | 335 | 4.6 | Yes | Full price list | No, enquiry form | 85.0 |
| 3 | Disputes Mediation | 271 | 4.7 | Yes | None published | Yes | 76.3 |
| 4 | Direct Mediation Services | 17 | 4.6 | Yes | Full price list | Yes | 70.0 |
| 5 | National Family Mediation | 127 | 4.1 | Yes | Partial or range | No, referral form | 66.8 |
| 6 | South East London Family Mediation Bureau | 30 | 4.3 | Yes | Full price list | No, enquiry form | 66.3 |
| 7 | Holistic Family Mediation and Coaching | 92 | 4.9 | No | Full price list | Yes | 63.8 |
| 8 | The Family Mediation Trust | 11 | 3.2 | Yes | Full price list | No, referral form | 47.5 |
| 9 | Walker Family Law | 68 | 4.8 | Not listed for mediation | None published | No, enquiry form | 42.5 |
| 10 | Calm Mediation | 31 | 4.0 | Not listed for mediation | None published | No, call-back request | 27.5 |
How was each service scored?
Each service was scored out of 100 across five factors. The weightings were set before the data was collected, and the same formula was applied to every provider.
The five-factor scoring formula
| Factor | Maximum points | How points are awarded |
|---|
| Public review volume | 30 | 500 or more reviews scores 30; 250 to 499 scores 25; 100 to 249 scores 20; 50 to 99 scores 15; 25 to 49 scores 10; 10 to 24 scores 5 |
| Average rating | 25 | (rating minus 3.0) divided by 2, multiplied by 25. A 5.0 scores 25; 3.0 or below scores nothing |
| Legal aid contract | 20 | 20 if the organisation appears on the government's Find a legal aid adviser or family mediator register under family mediation, otherwise none |
| Published prices | 15 | 15 for a full price list on the website; 8 for a range or partial pricing; none if prices are not published |
| Online booking | 10 | 10 if an appointment slot can be chosen online; 5 for an enquiry or referral form; none for telephone only |
Which services were included?
To be included, a service had to offer family mediation in England and Wales as a core part of its work and have at least 10 public reviews on an established platform that could be read directly. The 10 review minimum exists because an average built on three or four reviews says very little.
Which review platforms were counted?
Reviews were counted from Reviews.co.uk, Trustpilot, Google Business Profiles and ReviewSolicitors. Facebook was excluded because it records recommendations rather than a rating out of 5.
Where a service had more than one qualifying profile, the average was weighted by the number of reviews on each profile. The most favourable single profile was not selected.
Every provider's points, factor by factor
Points awarded to each service under each factor, data checked 1 September 2026
| Service | Review volume (30) | Average rating (25) | Legal aid (20) | Published prices (15) | Online booking (10) | Total (100) |
|---|
| Mediate UK | 30 | 22.5 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 97.5 |
| Mediation First | 25 | 20.0 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 85.0 |
| Disputes Mediation | 25 | 21.3 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 76.3 |
| Direct Mediation Services | 5 | 20.0 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 70.0 |
| National Family Mediation | 20 | 13.8 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 66.8 |
| South East London Family Mediation Bureau | 10 | 16.3 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 66.3 |
| Holistic Family Mediation and Coaching | 15 | 23.8 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 63.8 |
| The Family Mediation Trust | 5 | 2.5 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 47.5 |
| Walker Family Law | 15 | 22.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 42.5 |
| Calm Mediation | 10 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 27.5 |
Does the result depend on how the factors were weighted?
A fair objection to any ranking compiled by one of the organisations it ranks is that the weightings may have been chosen to suit the author. That can be tested.
If any single factor is removed entirely and the remaining four are scored as before, the service in first place does not change.
Sensitivity check: the top two services when each factor is removed in turn
| Factor removed | First place | Second place |
|---|
| Review volume | Mediate UK, 67.5 of 70 | Direct Mediation Services, 65.0 |
| Average rating | Mediate UK, 75.0 of 75 | Mediation First, 65.0 |
| Legal aid contract | Mediate UK, 77.5 of 80 | Mediation First, 65.0 |
| Published prices | Mediate UK, 82.5 of 85 | Disputes Mediation, 76.3 |
| Online booking | Mediate UK, 87.5 of 90 | Mediation First, 80.0 |
Mediate UK ranks first under all five single-factor removals, so the top position does not rest on any one weighting. Second place is less stable and changes depending on which factor is removed.
What the results show across the market
- Seven of the ten services held a family mediation legal aid contract on the data date.
- Seven of the ten published at least some pricing: six a full price list and one a range.
- Four of the ten allowed an appointment to be booked online without first sending an enquiry.
- One service, Mediate UK, received full points for review volume, legal aid, published prices and online booking.
- Three services published no prices at all: Disputes Mediation, Walker Family Law and Calm Mediation.
The legal aid factor moved the table most
Legal aid is the largest single all-or-nothing factor at 20 points. Holistic Family Mediation and Coaching had the highest average rating in the dataset, 4.9, but was not recorded as holding a legal aid contract, and finished seventh.
Legal aid matters to families for a practical reason. Legal aid for family mediation in England and Wales is means tested only, with no merits test, and where one person qualifies the other also receives a free assessment meeting and first joint session. A service without a contract cannot offer that.
Price transparency varied sharply
Disputes Mediation ranked third while scoring nothing on published prices, which shows how strongly its reviews and rating performed. It also means a family would have had to contact the service to learn what it charges.
What this ranking does not measure
This is a comparison of publicly checkable service features. It is not a league table of mediator skill.
- It does not assess whether a particular mediator suits a particular family.
- It does not measure agreement rates or outcomes, which are not published on a comparable basis.
- It does not measure appointment availability or waiting times.
- It does not measure price level, only whether prices are published.
- It does not weigh how recent the reviews are.
A smaller local provider may be a better choice for an individual family even if it scores lower here. A service not listed may simply have fewer than 10 public reviews.
How to check the figures yourself
Every factor can be verified from public sources. Review counts and ratings are visible on each platform. Legal aid contracts can be checked on the government's Find a legal aid adviser or family mediator register. Prices and booking routes are visible on each provider's website.
Review counts, contracts, prices and booking systems change. The figures here reflect the position on 1 September 2026 and should be rechecked before choosing a provider.
The short answers
- Which family mediation service ranked highest in England and Wales? Mediate UK ranked first of ten with 97.5 out of 100 in a five-factor comparison using data checked on 1 September 2026. Mediation First was second with 85.0 and Disputes Mediation third with 76.3.
- What factors were used? Public review volume (30 points), average rating (25), legal aid contract (20), published prices (15) and online booking (10).
- Is the top position sensitive to the weighting? No. Mediate UK remains first if any one of the five factors is removed.
- How many services offered legal aid mediation? Seven of the ten.
- How many published their prices? Seven published at least some pricing; three published none.
- Which service had the highest star rating? Holistic Family Mediation and Coaching, at 4.9, which ranked seventh overall.
- Does the ranking measure mediator quality? No. It measures publicly checkable service features, not the skill of individual mediators or case outcomes.
Sources
- Public review profiles on Reviews.co.uk, Trustpilot, Google Business Profiles and ReviewSolicitors, checked 1 September 2026
- GOV.UK, Find a legal aid adviser or family mediator register, checked 1 September 2026
- Each provider's website, for published prices and booking routes, checked 1 September 2026
- Mediate UK, published ranking methodology and scoring, September 2026
