City Cares: Supporting students who are carers, estranged or care leavers through university

“Once I received my City Cares bursary, I did better at University as I was able to focus more on my studies instead of stressing about my finances,” said a second-year Adult Nursing student at City, University of London who is a care leaver.

City Cares is the University’s dedicated support system. The service provides a bursary, hardship funds in the summer and administers the Sanctuary Scholarship, which is awarded to three asylum seeking students each year. It also collaborates with City’s Accommodation Team to hold a small number of year-round rooms in student halls of residence.

A recent report by Civitas, a thinktank working on issues relating to democracy and social policy, found that just 14 per cent of care leavers under the age of 19 progress onto higher education, compared to 47 per cent of other children. At the current rate of attainment, the report estimated it would take 107 years to close the care leaver higher education gap.

London leads the way in supporting care leavers at university

Despite these grim figures, the report found that London fares better than other cities and is leading the way in supporting care leavers into higher education.

“London is a diverse melting pot of people,” said Alice Myers, one of the Student Experience Officers working within the City Cares team to support City’s vulnerable students.

She believes London may be more attractive to these groups of students as they are more likely to be able to find their niche, without living under the smaller stethoscope of the communities they came from.

The Civitas report ranked City 38th in the UK for its proportion of care leavers, with an average of 130 care leavers in the 2021/22 academic year from an undergraduate population of 12,660.

The British government’s definition of a care leaver is someone who was in care at the age of sixteen and spent 13 weeks or more in care, which impacts the number of people able to access support.

At City, the definition is broadened out to all students that are ‘care experienced’, which means anyone who has been in care at any stage of their life and for any length of time.

Access to shelter, advice and financial support to study is provided by local councils to care leavers under the to the Children and Social Work Act 2017 up the age of 25. Higher education institutions frequently provide support such as bursaries or advice while students are in their care.

Once care leavers graduate or turn 25, many experience what’s referred to as ‘falling off the cliff edge’ when government and university support ends simultaneously.

These care leaver students are expected to become independent overnight and for many students who were reliant on this support, the transition can be rough. To help smooth over the transition from university to the world of work, City provides a ’graduation package’ of one-off financial support.

City Cares supports vulnerable groups of students

City Cares also provides support to a broader demographic of vulnerable students: young adult carers, young estranged students, refugees and asylum seekers.

Young adult carers are students who have caring responsibilities in addition to their studies. Many of these students are providing medical care as well as contributing financially to their families, therefore juggling many roles. When enrolled as full-time students, they are no longer entitled to carer benefits from the government.

“Everyone should have the opportunity and the support to thrive in university and go on to succeed,” said Leigh Rooney, who is also a Student Experience Officer in the City Cares team. “Students that access City Cares support face different pressures to their peers and we do not want them to withdraw from their course due to challenges beyond their control.”

One third-year Law student, who is a young adult carer, said: “Since the lockdown, my responsibilities have increased and money has not.” Receiving funds from City Cares granted them the freedom of not having to choose between making it to class or paying for a sick relative’s medicine.

Estranged students outnumber care leavers 3 to 1

The Student Loans Company (SLC) reported in December 2022 that there are three times more estranged students than care leavers in higher education. At City, this equates to 53 estranged students compared to 23 care leavers.

The charity Standalone defines estranged students as young students that do not have the support or approval of their families. In many cases, they are not in touch with their family network at all due to a dysfunctional situation.

This group of students faces distinct difficulties, struggling with their expenses and mental health, but do not have the same recourse as other groups for seeking support from their local councils.

One estranged student at City resorted to living with a friend but this informal arrangement remained unstable and stressful.
On receiving a bursary, the estranged student said: “I’ll be able to book a place for a little bit, away from everything, to be able to focus on my exams without instability.”

Students who have benefitted from City Cares bursaries cite using the funds to purchase essential items – food, clothes, groceries, hard drives or laptops for their studies, rent, medication, and travel to and from university.

“The transition to higher education is challenging for anyone who has a family support network,” said Leigh, “so it is more important that City provides City Cares students with practical and personal support to make it less overwhelming and to know there are people specifically there for them.”

For the City Cares team, success is seeing a City Cares-supported student graduate and go on to excel in their chosen profession.

“I have found working at City Cares to be extremely rewarding with the students that access our services have a genuine need for support and we can make a tangible difference for them in both small and large ways,” said Leigh.

There is an additional benefit to supporting these vulnerable students. “Supporting City Cares students encourages a more diverse student body within the University, which benefits City’s community more widely by exposing it to new cultures and life perspectives,” said Alice.