Care-experienced students get bespoke support

PROJECT

We Care Team, University of Sunderland

PURPOSE

To ensure anyone leaving care or estranged from their parents has the same full, immersive and enjoyable time studying at university as any other student

FUNDING

Around £300,000 per year from the university’s widening access and participation budget

BACKGROUND

The University of Sunderland was already delivering outreach work to care-experienced young people in local schools. But in 2012 it decided to extend its offer, supporting care-experienced young people through their whole student journey. “Care leavers are significantly under-represented in higher education,” says Wendy Price, head of widening access and participation at the university.

In 2017, eligibility broadened to include students who are estranged from their parents or carers. The university became the first in the North East to sign up to the Stand Alone Pledge, created by charity Stand Alone to develop support for estranged students in higher education. “This is a student who is typically estranged from both parents or carers and this is expected to be permanent,” says Price. “It can be based on sexuality or religious or cultural reasons or a whole number of other issues and students can become estranged either before or during their time at university.” Estranged students may have had some contact with the care system but are less likely to have a social worker or access to pastoral or financial support.

Initially the support formed a “small but important” part of Price’s role, but 2020 saw the launch of the We Care Team, with three staff offering individual and bespoke support. “We can build a trusted relationship with the students, and are able to prioritise them at any time,” says Price.

ACTION

The We Care Team supports both estranged students and care-experienced people, defined as those who, at any stage of their life, and for any length of time, have been looked after by a local authority. There is no age limit.

Care-experienced students may come to the team’s attention before they even apply to university, due to outreach work and relationships with local authorities. The team can accompany students to pre-application events such as open days and individual tours and visit them to explain options. Students can also share the fact that they are care-experienced on the Ucas form, allowing the team to get in contact and offer support, such as accompanying the applicant to interviews.

Not all students feel comfortable disclosing their care experience on application. An online questionnaire for all Sunderland students, introduced around three years ago, offers another opportunity for care-experienced young people to make themselves known to the university. “We found there were quite a significant number we didn’t already know about,” says Price.

Students can apply for support at any point during their time at university. “Some students are keen to prove they can do this on their own but if times get difficult either academically or financially, they know the team is there as a safety net to fall back on.”

Other university departments, such as student wellbeing and financial guidance services, might refer eligible young people and the We Care Team can also connect students to other services if they require specialist support.

The We Care Team acts as a central point of contact for students and are the only people who will contact students regarding their care background. No one else within the university is informed unless the young person chooses to tell them.

Support varies according to the needs of the young person but can include meeting with the student to develop a bespoke support plan, including help with finding accommodation, wellbeing support, additional financial support and finding part-time work. All care-experienced and estranged students are offered a £2,000 annual bursary. Initially this was £1,500 paid in three instalments, but students were finding it difficult to stretch the April payment through to the following September. “Last year, as a result of the pandemic, we introduced an additional £500 payment in July, and it was so well received that the bursary has been increased to £2,000 permanently,” says Price.

Care-experienced students are also offered 52 weeks accommodation or the option to store their belongings over the summer. With the student’s consent, the team can liaise with local authority staff or support workers, speak to personal advisors, support workers or carers about the support on offer, and attend or contribute to the young person’s Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings.

“Some of our students we might see once or twice a term, others have check-ins every Monday morning, and we probably hear from them throughout the week as well,” says Price. “What makes the support effective is that it can be personalised to every student’s unique needs. A lot of the student check-ins we have are not because of problems. Sometimes it’s just to say ‘I did really well in my last assignment’.”

Small personal interactions can mean a lot. “One of our students said her flatmates had come back after Easter with bags of Easter eggs and she didn’t have one – she said the egg was almost a symbol for someone caring,” says Price. The team now sends out eggs and crafts at Easter and advent calendars at Christmas as well as Christmas and birthday cards.

Before the pandemic, care-experienced students were happy to interact with the team but were less keen interacting with each other, says Price. However, the pandemic created a community feeling through a range of online activities, which encouraged students that might not feel comfortable coming to an in-person event to attend. “We’re finding the numbers of students engaging with face-to-face events are much higher now, which is fantastic,” says Price.

OUTCOME

The team supported 185 students in 2020/21 – 78 care-experienced and 107 estranged – including 31 students who graduated in 2020/21. The We Care Team’s annual survey in August 2021 – completed by 60 students – found 98.4 per cent of students rated support as “very good” or “good”. The student retention rate in 2020/21 was 93.5 per cent.

Student feedback is positive. Ryan, for example, who graduated in July with a PGCE, says the We Care Team “were there whenever we needed them”. “The kind gestures and little touches made my educational journey not only much more manageable but wonderful in many ways,” he says.

William, who gained a BA (Hons) in media production, says: “If it wasn’t for the We Care Team I would have quit university.” Judith, who is currently studying for a nursing degree having completed a master’s in practice development and a degree in health and social care, says the team has been a “huge support during my studies”. “Even if it is just for a quick chat or a whinge about something not relating to university, they are there for you,” she says. “They are more like friends than workers.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

The team is overhauling its website after young people said there should be more videos of real students sharing their stories. It is also developing training for university staff. Sessions include input from estranged and care-experienced students detailing the challenges and barriers they face.

The team hopes to expand its offer to cover other groups that are under-represented in higher education. “We are using our existing framework and adapting it so we can support, for example, the Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman and Boater community,” says Price.

Over the next 12 months there will also be a greater focus on gathering data around the difference support makes to students’ academic outcomes. “We know the degree outcomes of our students, but we need to establish the impact of the support they have received on their academic achievements,” says Price.

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