If you are care experienced and maybe worried about going to university, there are ways to support you at UCA.
On our campuses, UCA has a designated member of staff (DMS) to help you while you are studying with us.
We know any time spent in care can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes, so we want to help care experienced learners with pre-entry and on-course support. Our definition of a care experienced learner would be a person who has spent any amount of time in local authority care, adopted and previously in care, or if you have experience of kinship care due to being looked after by relatives or family friends.
You will also need to be:
- Registered on an undergraduate or postgraduate course
- Classed as a 'home' student
- Under 25 years old at the start of your course
The best thing to do is declare this on your application form so our DMS can get in touch with you and begin the process of support.
From initial enquiry all the way through to graduation, we’re here for you. Among the support we can offer is:
- Information and guidance on courses and continuing or returning to education
- Information on paying for your course, help accessing this and other sources of financial help. As a care experienced student subject to providing a letter from your Social Worker or Personal Adviser you'll be assessed as an independent student and will be awarded the maximum maintenance loan. You can find out more about this on the UCAS website.
- Help and advice on completing application forms for courses, student loans/bursaries.
- Help getting your accommodation in place, including liaising with our accommodation department, external agencies and landlords
- Help putting additional support in place ready for your course, such as disability and specific learning support difficulties, as well as help accessing other services available including study support, counselling and careers advice
- Ongoing welfare support
- With your permission, working with other professionals supporting you.
All shared information remains confidential in line with the University’s Data Protection Policies.
More information about the support UCA can provide – download our booklet to find more information about the support we provide at UCA.
There are a range of external websites that offer a range of services, advice and opportunities, which we’ve compiled here:
- Become
- Buttle UK
- Care Leavers Association
- Care Leaver Covenant
- Care Leaver Progression Partnership
- Coram Voice
- Drive Forward - offering support for London based care experienced students into employment
- Prince’s Trust
UCA is proud to commit to the Care Leaver Covenant to provide additional support for care experienced learners. The aim of the Care Leaver Covenant is to ensure the following:
- Care experienced learners are better prepared and supported to live independently.
- Care experienced learners have improved access to employment, education and training.
- Care experienced learners experience stability in their lives and feel safe and secure.
- Care experienced learners have improved access to health and emotional support.
- Care experienced learners achieve financial stability.
You can read more about our offer to learners here