Care-experienced or estranged students
We want to help make your journey to York as smooth and exciting as possible.
Our dedicated Access and Outreach Team offers specific support, advice and guidance to care experienced and estranged students, from before you apply to study with us, to enrolling as a student. You'll then continue to be supported by our dedicated contacts in the Student Support team.
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 have 'care leaver' status, you are also 'care experienced'.
If you're not sure if you're a care leaver, you can check with your leaving care team or personal adviser, or find more guidance from Coram Voice.
If you haven’t been assessed as a care leaver by Student Finance, but think you meet the criteria, please get in touch with us.
You are 'care experienced' if you have ever been in care, or are currently in care, even if you do not 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 of their parents 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.
Support when you apply
When you apply on UCAS, there’ll be an option to let us know if you’re a care leaver. Providing this information won’t affect your application – we’ll use it to reach out to you about any extra support you might like.
We also offer support to estranged students, and to students who are living (or have lived) in a Foyer.
We encourage you to get in touch with our Access and Outreach Manager, Vanessa Conman (outreach-independent-student@york.ac.uk), before you join us. Vanessa can give you information and advice about our courses, accommodation, finance and other support.
Our Student Support and Advice Coordinator, Dan Hall, will get in touch with you before you start your course, and throughout your studies, to see what other support we can give you.
Your journey to York
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 you might be facing. We offer a wide range of support, from the first stage of thinking about your options, right up to applying, studying at university, and beyond.
Vanessa Conman, Access and Outreach Manager
Support before you arrive
If you're a care-experienced or estranged young person, we have various support options available to you when considering York.
Achieve HE
Achieve HE is our dedicated programme for supporting care leavers, care-experienced and estranged young people at the pre-entry stage.
YorCare Package
As a care-experienced or estranged young person, you'll be able to access the following:
You'll be able to access a VIP visit package, which includes free return travel, overnight accommodation on campus or nearby with breakfast included, and lunch on campus with a member of our Access and Outreach team. This is offered for yourself and a guest, who can be a professional, friend or family member. If you'll be under 18 at the time of your visit, your guest will need to be 18 or over.
The VIP visit package is available to any care-experienced or estranged young person who is planning to go to university in the next two years, and who would like to visit us here at the University of York. This could be for a planned Open Day, Visit Day or Interview Day, or at another point in the year to suit you.
After using our VIP Visit Package, you do not have to apply to the University of York. You can only use the VIP Visit Package once (although you’re welcome to visit more than once, of course!). University of York offer holders are welcome to use the VIP visit package, up until the point you enrol as a student here.
You can access bespoke support and advice sessions covering general information about university, your options, student finance, and student support. Application and personal statement advice and guidance is also given in these sessions.
These sessions can be provided in person (in campus or in the community), over the phone, or on video call. If you do choose to complete the session in person, on campus, we can also arrange a campus tour for you with a current university student (who will ideally also be a care-experienced or estranged student).
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Priority places on one of our widening access programmes.
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A free gym membership at our two on-campus sport centres (available for those who are aged 16 to 25, and live in York or North Yorkshire). For more details, get in touch at outreach-independent-student
@york.ac.uk.
On Track programme
On Track is an employability programme designed specifically for UK students who are in receipt of a York Bursary, or a Care Leavers and Estranged Students Bursary.
For further information about the support we offer, please get in touch with us at outreach-independent-student@york.ac.uk.
Your dedicated advisor
If you study with us, we'll assign you a dedicated support advisor – a named contact who can support you from when you arrive, up until you graduate.
Having a dedicated contact for care leavers really made me feel warmly welcomed to the University. Having this contact is a huge contributing factor as to 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
Alternative offers
As a care-experienced or estranged student, you'll be considered for a contextual offer of up to two grades below the standard offer for your course.
To be considered for a contextual offer, you'll need to complete the Additional Information Form.
Financial support
If you decide to choose the University of York for your studies, there may be a number of financial opportunities for you to explore. These include our:
- Care Leavers' and Estranged Students Bursary
- Care Leavers' Accommodation Subsidy
- York Futures Scholarship
We have travel financial awards available for students wishing to pursue organised and independent travel projects during their studies.
Other sources of financial support
- See the UCAS website for information on funding your degree as a care leaver or care-experienced student, and our Tuition fees and funding guidance.
- Buttle UK, Leathersellers and Turn2us Grant Search can provide financial help to young people who receive no support from their parents or guardians.
Accommodation support
We offer related support for care leavers, care experienced and estranged students, from flexible accommodation contracts to accommodation subsidies.
Explore our accommodation support
Do you support care-experienced or estranged young people?
Newsletter
We send a quarterly newsletter to professionals and foster carers, making sure they're updated on our work in this area.
Contact us
Vanessa Conman
Access and Outreach Manager