There is growing recognition that society’s obligations to care experienced and estranged young people involves getting more of them successfully through higher education. However, the promise of support often doesn't match reality. This report explores the gaps in support for care experienced and estranged students, and suggests ways to ensure that support is more consistently available.
KEY POINTS
- Almost every university offers financial bursaries, the vast majority offer some form of accommodation guarantee, and some offer discounted housing too
- Our best guess estimate is that the university sector spends around £10-15 million a year
- Yet the support is inconsistent, and institutions with more care experienced and estranged students have to provide greater levels of
support without additional funding- Resources don’t seem to track need well with institutions with fewer care experienced students able to offer greater support
- A few programs have been demonstrated to make a significant difference, but there is a clear and pressing need to build a robust
evidence base of impact. - The system runs on goodwill, and given the budgetary challenges facing the university sector, discretionary spending on care experienced or estranged student support – particularly where unevidenced – may come under pressure.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- University funding: Universities should receive a guaranteed minimum of £1,000 per student per academic year. These payments would reflect the additional costs of supporting care experienced and estranged students, as well as providing clear encouragement to enrol and retain them.
- Reinstatement of grants: Student Finance England should offer non-repayable grants, equivalent to an average parental contribution, for care-experienced and estranged students, reintroducing grants previously available in the UK 25 years ago. Additional grant funding should come with requirements to follow evidence-led good practice, and support to identify that practice.
- Guaranteed university offers: introduce a Guaranteed Offer Scheme, ensuring that care-experienced or estranged students receive a guaranteed offer to study at institutions when they meet the minimum entry requirements, as is already the case in Scotland.
- Extended local authority support: Standardise and extend statutory support from local authorities for students up to graduation, provided they enrol before the age of 25.
- Sign up to the Care Leaver Covenant: All Higher Education providers should be signatories to the Care Leaver Covenant to solidify their sense of responsibility for care experienced and estranged students
See also the press release: Invest in higher education for care experienced and estranged students, says major new report
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