University

 

 

Many Care Leavers go on to achieve amazing things at university. If you decide to go to university, the Care Leavers 18+ Service will assist you with your housing during the holiday periods and provide you with extra financial support. Long-term funding for higher education will be agreed by our management team if necessary.

We will support you for a maximum of 4 years of university study (£1000 per academic year).  This support is available for care leavers studying on 3 or 4 year undergraduate programmes.

• You will be eligible to apply for a student loan from Student Finance England.
• We will support you to visit universities prior to acceptance by covering travel costs and if required potentially overnight accommodation costs.
• We will assist you with the initial set-up and costs of moving to & from university up to £300 from your setting up home allowance.
• If you have not used your 4th year of bursary, then we will make this available to you if you go on to do a master’s degree program. Evidence will need to be provided as it is with your undergraduate degree course. Additional financial support may be available from the Rees Foundation.
• We will help with the costs of graduation expenses, such as gown hire and photographs up to the cost of £100 in total.

You may also be entitled to additional support from the university who often have additional funds and grants for care leavers. but you should contact your chosen university to discuss what is available.

If you are thinking about applying to university, please speak to your Personal Advisor or Social Worker, as they will be able to help you with applying for your personal student finance loan and support you throughout the process. You can also look at these documents for extra help:

Help Writing Your Personal Statement

Higher Education Resource Check List

Additional Information about Higher Education.

Useful Websites

The Propel website is a fantastic resource offering advice and information about how different institutions support care leavers. You can use it to find out about all year-round accommodation, bursaries and grants and key contacts.

Turn2Us has a grants search tool that allows you to search for grants in your local area, which may include those related to higher education.

The Scholarship Hub is a website that has a database that you can search for scholarships, when you register with them.

Support for Students with Disabilities

Universities and higher education colleges must make provision for students with disabilities, including long-term conditions and specific learning difficulties.

Every university or college has a disability adviser or learning support coordinator to help you get your most out of your time in higher education.  They can tell you about the support available to help you access accommodation and your academic course.