Scotland's Adoption Register: How Matching Works After Approval

Getting approved as an adoptive family in Scotland is a significant milestone — but for most families, the wait that follows is harder than the assessment itself. Scotland's Adoption Register is the national system designed to shorten that wait and widen the pool of potential matches. Understanding how it works helps you use it actively rather than waiting passively.

What Is Scotland's Adoption Register?

Scotland's Adoption Register (SAR) is the national matching service for adoption in Scotland. It is managed by AFKA Scotland (the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption Scotland) and funded by the Scottish Government.

The SAR exists because Scotland's 32 local authorities each manage their own pool of approved adopters and children waiting for placement. Without a national system, a child in Aberdeenshire with complex needs might never be connected with the ideal family approved in Dumfries — even though the match would be excellent. The SAR bridges this gap.

How Referral Works

After you are approved by your local authority or voluntary adoption agency, your agency will attempt to match you with a child locally. If no suitable local match is identified within three months of approval, your agency is legally required to refer you to the SAR.

This three-month window is a statutory requirement, not a guideline. Some families are matched locally before reaching the register; many are not. Referral to the SAR should not feel like a failure — it simply means the search is expanding nationally, which often leads to a better match.

The Link Maker Platform

The SAR operates through an online platform called Link Maker. This is a secure, searchable database used by adoption social workers across Scotland.

How it works:

• Your profile: Once referred to the SAR, you and your social worker create a profile on Link Maker. This can include photographs and short videos — personal elements that help children's social workers understand who you are as a family.
• Child profiles: Social workers for children awaiting adoption upload anonymised profiles describing the child's history, personality, health, and the kind of family they need.
• Searching: Both adopter social workers and children's social workers can search the platform. Your social worker is searching for children who match your approved profile; children's social workers are searching for families who match their child's needs.
• Browsing: You can browse children's profiles on Link Maker yourself (with guidance from your social worker), which many adopters find both meaningful and emotionally challenging. This is an area to discuss openly with your link worker — how much browsing is helpful for you and how much becomes counterproductive.

Exchange Days and Activity Days

The SAR organises two types of in-person events to facilitate matching:

Exchange Days: Events where approved adopters can view children's profiles in more depth and speak directly to the social workers supporting those children. They give you a more personal sense of a child than a written profile can convey.

Activity Days: Play-based events where approved adopters and children meet in an informal, fun environment. These are particularly valuable for older children and sibling groups, where a natural connection in person can be easier to assess than through written profiles alone. Activity days are not "auditions" — they are simply an opportunity for organic connection.

Not all adopters reach the stage of attending these events. Many matches are made through the online platform before an activity day is needed.

What the Data Shows

Scotland's adoption numbers are relatively stable but demand-supply mismatches persist. In 2024, 190 children were approved for adoption by panels across Scotland, and 170 were placed. The Care Inspectorate's bulletin shows that 38% of children referred to the SAR are part of a sibling group — families that can offer a home to two or more siblings together are consistently in short supply.

New adoptive household approvals reached a five-year low of 166 in 2024, meaning more children are entering the system than there are approved families to receive them, particularly for older children and those with complex needs.

If the Waiting Feels Stuck

Matching can take anywhere from a few months to two years or more. If your wait is extending and you feel the process has stalled, there are active steps you can take:

• Ask for a review meeting with your social worker to discuss whether your approved profile needs to be updated or widened
• Request a meeting with the SAR directly — the register has staff who can advise on what matching activity is underway and whether there are practical barriers
• Consider widening your approved profile — if you were initially approved for children of a specific age range or without complex needs, a discussion with your agency about widening this may open new possibilities
• Attend an activity day or exchange event if you have not already — seeing children's social workers in person can prompt connections that online profiles do not

Your agency should be proactively supporting the matching process, not simply waiting for the register to deliver a referral. If you feel progress is slow, it is entirely reasonable to ask specifically what steps your social worker is taking.

After a Match Is Identified

When a potential match is found — either locally or through the SAR — the process moves through these stages:

1. Linking Meeting: Your social worker and the child's social worker share detailed information about both sides. This is the first substantive discussion about whether the match should proceed.
2. Matching Panel: If both teams agree to proceed, the match goes to a formal Matching Panel (a separate panel from your approval panel). The panel reviews whether your family can meet this child's specific needs.
3. Introductions: A carefully staged period where you and the child meet and build familiarity, typically over 1-2 weeks.
4. Placement: The child moves in.

The Scotland Adoption Process Guide covers the full matching sequence, including what the Matching Panel considers, how to prepare for introductions, and what to do if a proposed match does not feel right for your family.

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