Transition from care to college

Just seven per cent of looked-after children went on to higher education in 2016. So how do we identify ways of better supporting those who successfully reach college or university, and how do we encourage others?

Last year, we were asked to do an evaluation of the Higher Education Champions coaching programme for looked-after children, a collaborative partnership run by Aimhigher London South, involving seven local authorities and eight universities (see bullet points).

The initiative targeted young people in care who were about to make the transition to higher education, with a view to identifying and addressing their support needs.

A "near-peer" coaching model was adopted whereby people were matched with a coach with experience of higher education and challenging life experiences. This enabled the "coachees" to ask questions, explore possibilities and make more informed decisions about their futures.

The programme was bespoke, with coach and coachee meeting regularly over six months to work towards identified goals. This allowed them to improve knowledge of university life, while developing social and practical skills.

Our evaluation, which involved collaboration with two partner organisations, Kaizen and the BrightsideTrust, aimed to generate insight that would be of use to the professionals working with looked-after young people to help inform what support could be useful for future similar programmes.

It was designed to provide access to the perspectives of the young people and their coaches, but also the key adults working with them. A particular focus was to explore the benefits of care-experienced coaches involved in the project.

Benefits for coachees

The evaluation found participation in the programme had been beneficial, with the coachees finding the experience highly empowering and identifying development across a range of areas, including confidence and growth; ambition and self-motivation; perseverance and determination.

They were seen to have enhanced their understanding of the academic, social and cultural realities of university, addressing key adults' predominant concern that young people in the care system tend to make poor choices and struggle to integrate.

Overall, the programme was seen to have provided access to a valued, comfortable and up-to-date source of knowledge and support.

Benefits for coaches

A key finding was the reciprocal nature of the benefits of the programme, which is particularly important given the coaches' own challenging life experiences. They were clearly motivated by a desire to "give back" and benefit others. One wrote: "My personal journey of going to university was not straightforward and I wanted to help others find their way and avoid some of the confusion I had."

It was clear that experiences of care generated feelings of confidence around the nature of the support to be provided. For example, one described himself as: "A care leaver who believes that all [care] leavers should be supported to reach their full potential. To do this, we need people who care for care leavers, care about them and enable them to care for themselves."

The coaches recognised the programme provided opportunities for their own personal development, generating higher levels of self-awareness.

Reasons for success

The coaching and key events were led by trainers experienced in working with looked-after children. Trainers were seen to place a strong emphasis on the coachees setting their own goals and taking responsibility for themselves, equipping them to deal with lives in which adults come and go and systems sometimes let them down.

Nevertheless, it was daunting for some to undertake a long journey by public transport across a major city, to arrive early on a weekend morning to attend programme events with a large group of strangers at a university.

Overall, the research suggested the need for a holistic, long-term approach to supporting more young people from the care system into university. This can be bolstered by effective communication and collaboration between the different groups of people and organisations involved in their lives. While some will be able to navigate higher education without difficulty, others will benefit from more informed guidance on the support available within universities.

To ensure a transferable network of support, key adults and university contacts need to have access to information of the kind provided in websites such as Propel http://propel.org.uk.

To mitigate the risk of young people experiencing isolation on arrival, universities need to provide networking opportunities and access to personal and professional development. This is crucial if these young people are not to slip through the net of care once at university, but go on and reach their full potential.

ABOUT THE STUDY

• The Champions programme began in January 2016. Evaluation was completed in July 2016 and final reporting completed in November
• There were 29 participants - six coachees, 12 coaches, eight key adults and five adults -involved in programme development and delivery
• Views were gathered through questionnaires followed by phone interviews, focus group discussion and mind maps for young people

Source: University of Sussex

Louise Gazeley is senior lecturer in education, and Tamsin Hinton-Smith is senior lecturer in higher education at the University of Sussex

Full report from l.gazeley@sussex.ac.uk j.t.hinton-smith@sussex.ac.uk