Students who are estranged or have care experience
Our dedicated Access and Outreach Team offers specific support and guidance to those with care experience, and those estranged from their parents.
It's available from whenever you start considering university, through the application period, up until you (hopefully!) enrol as a student.
If you then come to study at York, this support will continue throughout your time here, with dedicated advisors in the Student Support Team right up to when you graduate.
Contact us
Vanessa Conman
Access and Outreach Manager
You're a 'care leaver' if you've been in the care of your local authority for at least 13 weeks since your 14th birthday, ending on or after your 16th birthday. The 13 weeks don't have to have been all in one go.
If you're a 'care leaver', you're also 'care experienced'. If you're not sure if you're a care leaver, you can check with your care team or personal adviser, or find more info from Coram Voice.
If you haven’t been assessed as a care leaver by Student Finance, but think you meet the criteria, get in touch with us.
You're 'care experienced' if you've ever been in care, or are currently in care, even if you don't have 'care leaver' status. This care may have been provided in many settings, including:
- living with foster carers
- living in a residential children's home
- being looked after at home under a supervision order
- living with friends or relatives in kinship care.
Care-experienced people could have spent any length of time in care, at any age.
Estranged young people are those aged under 25 who aren't communicating with either parent due to a breakdown in the relationship, with the situation likely to remain permanent.
The young person may be estranged and living independently before entering higher education, or may become estranged during their studies.
Award-winning support
Our Stand Alone Pledge Award, NNECL Quality Mark and Care Leaver Covenant pledge each recognise our commitment to wellbeing.
Starting the conversation
You’ll be able to tell us about your experience when you apply on UCAS. We’ll reach out to you directly to ask about any support you might like.
You can also get in touch while you’re applying, to ask any questions about the support we offer.
Types of support
Our contextual offers give care-experienced and estranged applicants a fairer chance of reaching university. You might be eligible for one automatically based on your postcode.
If you're not eligible for a contextual offer based on your postcode, but are care experienced or estranged, we might still be able to give you one if you tell us more about you.
Our bursaries and other financial support helps students manage the cost of living and studying at university.
They include our:
- Care Leavers' and Estranged Students Bursary
- Care Leavers' Accommodation Subsidy
- York Futures Scholarship
We can also advise on other funding opportunities, such as:
Our accommodation support for care-experienced and estranged students includes flexible contracts and subsidies.
Our VIP Visit Package offers one free return trip to York, including overnight accommodation on or near campus, and breakfast and lunch, for you and one guest. If you’re under the age of 18, your guest must be 18 or older.
It’s open to anyone with care experience, or anyone estranged from their parents, who’s planning to go to university in the next two years (you don’t have to apply to York after using it).
Over lunch, one of our team will chat with you about the uni experience, and answer questions about the support we can give. You'll also have the chance to visit the department you're interested in, and go on a campus tour with a current student.
Our Widening Access programmes help people prepare for university-level study. If you have experience of care, or are estranged from your parents, you’ll be eligible for a priority place if you apply to join one.
We work with Inspiring Choices on their On Track Programme, inviting care-experienced young people and their carers to events during term breaks for more guidance and support.
The University is home to two on-campus sport centres. If you’re aged between 16 and 25, and live in York or North Yorkshire, you’ll be eligible for a free membership.
Current York students who are care experienced, or estranged from their parents, can also access either a free off-peak membership, or a half-price full membership.
Having a dedicated contact really made me feel welcome, and is a huge factor for why I love York. It means I have someone to talk to, who's aware of the help I'm entitled to, and I don't have to explain my past for them to understand my point of view.
Current student
Support for foster carers
If you're a foster carer who'd like to know more about supporting young people into higher education, our free online programme, 'Foster their Future', is running a 3rd cohort in March 2025.
Learn more and sign up:
, 116kb)Our newsletter
If you're a professional who supports care-experienced and estranged people, our quarterly newsletter can keep you updated about our work, as well as guidance and other opportunities.
Support for current students
If you're a care-experienced or estranged student already studying at York, you can find more on the contacts and opportunities available.
Making decisions about your future, and whether university is right for you, can be a challenge for any young person. For people who have experience of being in care, or are estranged from their family, it can be even more daunting, and feel too far out of reach.
Higher education could make a huge difference to your life in so many ways, and we're here to help you overcome any barriers. We offer a wide range of support, from the first stage of thinking about your options, right up to applying, studying at uni, and beyond.
Vanessa Conman, Access and Outreach Manager
Contact us
Vanessa Conman
Access and Outreach Manager