The structured data most fostering services are missing
What this piece finds
102 of the 131 local authority fostering services scored in September 2026 carry none of the structured data we check for.
The median structured data result across the scored services is 0 out of 100.
Structured data tells search engines and AI assistants which organisation stands behind a page, and on most local authority fostering pages nothing in the code says so.
The fix is template work that a web team does once and every page then inherits.
What is structured data, and who has it?
Structured data (schema.org) is extra information in a web page’s code that tells search engines and AI assistants what the page is about and which organisation runs it. In September 2026, 102 of the 131 local authority fostering services scored in the FosterScope rankings had none of it. A fostering page can read clearly to a person and still leave a machine guessing.
In the September rankings, 102 of the 131 scored services carried none of it: no description of the organisation, the website or where the page sits within it. The median structured data result across the scored services was 0 out of 100.
Figure 1
102 of 131 scored services carry no structured data
The figures
| Structured data | Services |
|---|---|
| None found | 102 |
| Some found | 29 |
On 113 of the 131 scored services, nothing in the code describes the organisation behind the page.
What does FosterScope check for?
We check for 6 basic types of structured data: a description of the organisation, a description of the website, a breadcrumb trail showing where the page sits, a contact point, links to the organisation’s official profiles elsewhere, and a logo.
Figure 2
How often each structured data check passes
The figures
| Check | Services passing | Weight within the structured data result |
|---|---|---|
| Website description | 23 | 20 |
| Organisation description | 18 | 30 |
| Breadcrumb trail | 13 | 15 |
| Logo | 12 | 10 |
| Official profiles | 9 | 10 |
| Contact point | 4 | 15 |
A description of the website is the check most often passed, on 23 services. A contact point passes on 4.
None of it is advanced. It’s template work: a web team adds it once and every page inherits it.
Why does structured data matter more for a local authority?
Because a local authority’s fostering service is harder for a machine to place. The fostering service often sits several layers below a corporate domain. The regional hub runs another site. Related information turns up elsewhere again. A person can usually work out how those fit together. A machine does better when the relationships are written down.
Structured data matters for foster carer recruitment because search engines and AI assistants both decide who stands behind a page before they show or cite it. They’re different products, but both have to decide what a page represents and who stands behind it before they’ll show it or cite it. Work that removes that doubt helps on both at once.
Structured data can’t rescue weak content. It won’t make an unclear offer clear, and it won’t fix a page nobody can reach from the menu. What it does is remove avoidable doubt, and for most of the services we measure that doubt is total.
Who owns the fix?
Often nobody. Communications owns the words and a web team owns the templates, so the markup falls between them. A prospective foster carer sees none of that. They see a service that’s easier or harder to find.
We publish structured data on every public page of this site and check it before it ships. The September figures sit behind the September measurement, and how we measure sets out each check.
Find your own service in the rankings, then see what we do for local authorities.