Coming to University as a Care Leaver/Estranged student

After spending a few years in the care system and leaving school aged 19 with 3 below average A-levels, I was very apprehensive about my future, although I knew university was something I was passionate about. I felt a lot of pressure to engage in a full-time job as I was now living independently and people around me at the time were not pursuing academics. I procrastinated by taking a gap year, in which I found nothing fulfilling, but was still very apprehensive about taking the leap to go to university.  

One thing that concerned me was funding during the university application process and during university. However, I soon found out that most universities offer a travel bursary to visit their open days, interviews and applicant days. All you have to do is phone or email them and ask!

During open days I often felt confused, lost and overwhelmed with information. I attended every university Open day by myself and felt I didn’t know what questions to ask or most important things to take from the day. I overcame this by coming to Open Days with clear intentions and a list of things I needed to find out and understand. In addition, I found it helpful on Open Days to listen to other prospective students and their families. Parents have different concerns than students; however, their concerns are still very relevant to your life at university. 

Also, the University of Essex Chat page allows you to chat online to current university students, so if there are any questions you think of after the Open Day (about studies, wellbeing and or university life).  Chat allows you to ask those questions directly to a university student.

There’s also additional support available once you get to university if you’ve been in care. Once you decide to apply to university, you can also apply for a government-backed loan to pay for tuition fees and some support with living costs. The organisation in England that oversees these student loans is called Student Finance England. It is worth checking if you meet the eligibility criteria as a Care Leaver as this may mean they will loan you more money.

Your local council should also have a support package for you if you are going directly into Higher Education. You can read more here and see Essex County Council’s Leaving and Aftercare Finance Handbook (.pdf) as an example of one local council’s support (page 12 for information on Higher Education).

You may also find additional support from the university you choose to go to. All universities vary in the way they support care-leaving and estranged students, but most offer bursaries or grants to help with any financial struggles. Bursaries and grants are different from loans, as you are not expected to pay them back after you graduate. Take a look at all the fees, funding and money matters advice available at Essex.

When I found out about this support, it supressed my money fears about university. My advice to a student looking for this kind of financial support is to keep good records of all your documents, as they can be really useful in providing evidence for applications.

My next point of apprehension was the fact that, by the time I planned to start university, I had been out of education for some years, and I was worried I’d be lacking in the skills required to participate in my degree. Fortunately, the University of Essex offers a short online course for individuals holding a university offer called The Essex Preparation Programme. I did this course the summer before I came to university; it was a great refresher course on key academic skills and made me feel more ready to engage with academic studies. Furthermore, there were lots of academic workshops and easily accessible support staff to help me in my first year as an undergraduate.

If you are not 18 yet, there are still things you can do to help you prepare for university. Essex also offers a Further Studies Preparation Programme aimed at 14 to 16 year olds to help them plan their future, manage educational transitions, independent study and other important life skills. This is also online-based, so easily accessible. The University Preparation Programme may also interest you if you are in post-16 Education.

Lastly, I feared that I would be lonely at university, especially during the holidays when everyone would go home. However, the University allows students to stay in campus accommodation over the summer break, which is something I will be doing this academic year, and it’s good to know there’ll be other students staying on campus with me. What’s more, during vacation periods, the Students’ Union (SU) puts on many fun events so there is no chance of me getting bored when I have no classes during the holidays. The SU is also excellent at putting on events and socials during Welcome Week to meet new people with common interests and similar attributes to you. For example, I am looking forward to the next mature students' mixer to meet students in a similar position to me and to make even more friends!  

Going to university can feel quite scary – particularly if you share a similar background to me – but I have learnt that there are plenty of people and services out there to lend some support. You just need to search them out and ask for help. When you get here, you’ll see that everyone’s path is different but there is plenty you will find in common with others along the way. Check out the links above, and if you want to hear more about university from current students,  have a listen to the Understanding University: The Ultimate Uni Podcast series.