Promoting positive outcomes for Care Experienced and Estranged Students

Last reviewed	September 2023
Reviewed by	Catherine Purtell
Role	Astrophoria Foundation Year Welfare Lead
Adopted by Steering Group	12/10/23
Displayed	Website
Next review	3 years from date of adoption

Aim

Within the Astrophoria Foundation Year, we are committed to ensuring that students who have experience of being in care have a successful and enjoyable time studying with us. This guidance sets out the support that is available for Care Experienced and Estranged Students to promote positive outcomes.

Definitions

The Astrophoria Foundation Year will use the definitions from NNECL (2023)1 as working definitions for the following terms:

‘Care Experienced’ - This term refers to anyone who has been, or is currently, in care. This care may have been provided in many different 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.
‘Estranged’ - Estranged students are those aged 18 to 24 who are not communicating with either of their parents due to an irreconcilable breakdown in the relationship with them. Estranged students often also lack the support of their wider family. Individuals may be estranged and are living independently before entering higher education or may become estranged during their studies.

Please note that students who are care experienced may also be estranged from their parents.

Care leavers – the definitions and terminology varies across the four countries of the UK. The most relevant information can be found here:

England - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/35/notes/division/2
Scotland - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/36/introduction, http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2004/03/19113/34719, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2015/62/introduction/made and https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2015/156/introduction/made.
Wales - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/35/notes/division/2 and sections 105-115 of this document: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2014/4/contents
Northern Ireland - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1995/755/contents, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2002/11/contents and http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2005/221/contents/made

What students should do if they are unsure whether they meet the definitions

Students who are unsure if they meet the definitions for care experienced and/or estranged students are advised to contact the Welfare Lead (welfare@foundationyear.ox.ac.uk) to arrange a confidential discussion.

University Support available for students

There is support available from the University to support students who are Care Experienced and/or Estranged.

Care Experienced Students

The University of Oxford states on its website that it is “committed to supporting students from a care background to ensure that they receive the help they need in order to have a successful university experience”. Further details can be found on the University website.
Care experienced student bursary: A non-repayable care experienced student bursary of up to £3,000 per year is available to UK undergraduates, Graduate-Entry Medicine students and PGCE students to help towards financial shortfalls relating to circumstances. New applications must be from those who were under 25 on the first day of their course.
More information can be found on the University website.
Information about support available for applications can be found on the University website.

Estranged Students

The University of Oxford is committed to supporting students who are studying without the support and approval of their families. Further details of support available can be found on the University website.
The University of Oxford has also signed the Stand Alone Pledge.
The University of Oxford offers an Estranged student bursary, which is a non-repayable estranged student bursary of up to £3,000 per year is available to UK undergraduates, Graduate-Entry Medicine students and PGCE students who are studying without the support of their family, to help towards financial shortfalls relating to circumstances. New applications must be from those who were under 25 on the first day of their course. More information can be found on the University website.

For confidential advice about the support available for estranged students, please contact the director for Student Welfare and Support Services on director.swss@admin.ox.ac.uk.

College Support

All colleges have a range of support available for students who are care experienced and/or estranged. Information can be found on their college websites.

It is through colleges that all students access Chaplaincy support and welfare systems.

Student Peer Supporters are available in colleges and departments to talk informally about anything that is concerning a student. Peer Supporters are carefully selected and trained and receive support and supervision from the University Counselling Service.

Support available from the Astrophoria Foundation Year

Students who are care experienced and/or estranged from their families will be eligible to receive all the support that all foundation year students receive, including the non-refundable bursary of £5800 (2023/24 rate) for living costs and an additional bursary to cover accommodation costs during term time of the Foundation Year.

In addition to this support, from September 2-23, we specifically offer the following support available to all care experienced and/or estranged students.

Timeframe	Outline of support
Before students apply	If students want to contact the welfare lead to ask any questions they may have at any stage, including when considering if the Astrophoria Foundation Year is the right place for them to come and study, they should email welfare@foundationyear.ox.ac.uk. They are also able to approach the admissions@foundationyear.ox.ac.uk email address for more general queries.
Before students apply	We are happy to organise a special and individualised visit for both care experienced and estranged students. Students would be welcome to attend a meeting (accompanied by a Social Worker, Personal Adviser, friend or family member if they wish) with our Welfare Lead prior to applying. Depending on timing, this could include: A tour of the relevant department A tour of one of our colleges A chance to meet face to face the Welfare Lead and any other key members of staff (potentially including some of the Course Team) A chance to answer any questions that students may have about their course, accommodation, student finance etc This is booked by emailing welfare@foundationyear.ox.ac.uk.
When a student applies	UCAS provides information and support to students who are care experienced and/or estranged wishing to apply for university. More information for care experienced students can be found on the UCAS website. More information for estranged students can be found on the UCAS website.
When a student applies	To ensure that we can identify students and provide students with support, we encourage students to tick the relevant boxes on the UCAS application to let us know that the students has been in care and/or are estranged from their parents. This will allow us to get in contact with them. This information is treated in the strictest of confidence and applications will not be disadvantaged in any way.
During the interview process	Students will be contacted by the Welfare Lead as soon as possible once they have applied and been invited to interview (NB – as long as the student has indicated on their application that they are care experienced or estranged). The welfare lead will continue to provide consistent support throughout the interview process.
Once a student has received an offer	Once the student has received and accepted their offer for admission, an offer of a virtual or face to face meeting to address any questions/concerns before starting the course will be made.
	If the student didn’t take up the offer of the individual visit prior to the offer being made, this will be offered again here.
	The welfare lead will help the student get all the support they are entitled to before they start, providing regular information, advice and signposting, when and where appropriate.
During the foundation year	All students will be invited to an orientation week (in MT W-1). Those who are care experienced and/or estranged will be offered regular check ins during the week, including the offer of 1:1 sessions with the welfare lead as appropriate.
	As part of the orientation week, students will be introduced to the Students’ Union (SU) and will find out about all the SU societies and upcoming events. The welfare lead will ensure that care experienced and/or estranged students know their time slot to go to the Freshers’ fair and make arrangements to support them in accessing the quiet hour if that is more appropriate.
	The Welfare Lead will meet with care experienced and/or estranged students regularly throughout the foundation year for 1:1 meetings. The Welfare Lead has links with multiple outside agencies and will signpost students to relevant agencies for additional support where appropriate.
	Signposting to financial support: Through the welfare lead, conversations to signpost and support applications to financial support mechanisms will occur, such as possible bursaries from Local Authorities, as well as support from within the colleges and University.
	The welfare lead will support the student to arrange a 1:1 careers interview during their foundation year. This will include the opportunity to discuss vacation employment as appropriate. Colleges and the University of Oxford will be encouraged to provide information about any temporary vacation jobs to care experienced students who are staying in Oxford over the vacations giving them early notice to be able to apply. Where opportunities are shared with the welfare lead, these will be shared with any care experienced and/or estranged students.
	Mentoring – we aim to provide a personal mentor with either experience of navigating or helping young people navigate higher education from a care experienced background. It is intended to approach the Rees Centre for provision of these mentors.
	Mental Health Support – With consent, students would be supported with referrals by the Welfare Lead to University’s student counselling service as appropriate. For care-experienced and/or estranged students, if the support required goes beyond the standard 6 sessions provided by SWSS, there is a commitment to assess if there is a need to continue with that support on a case-by-case basis. Consideration will also be made whether the mental health support can comfortably sit within a higher education service setting or should be NHS based. Where additional referrals need to be completed to access NHS services, the welfare lead will support as appropriate.
	Full-time undergraduate students are able to apply to Student Finance for a tuition fee loan to cover the costs of study and a maintenance loan for general living costs. Support will be provided by the Welfare Lead for any student who needs support during this application process.
	Employability – As part of our commitment to care experienced and/or estranged students, we guaranteed an interview any care experienced and/or estranged students who express an interest in becoming a Foundation Year ambassador
During vacations in the foundation year	The University of Oxford commits to supporting care experienced and estranged students to have assistance in securing 365-day accommodation. In the Astrophoria Foundation Year, care experienced students will have their accommodation funded 365 days/year on their foundation year for those who require it. It is requested that vacation accommodation for care experienced students should be charged at term time rate rather than vacation rate.
	Hardship funding is available that can be accessed for financial support during the vacations, if necessary, by care experienced and/or estranged students.
	The ideal scenario for housing is that care-experienced students are not required to move rooms during vacation periods. If unavoidable, support will be offered by the Welfare Lead in moving their belongings and to check they are settled in.
For those students who do not continue to undergraduate degree	It is also suggested that accommodation is available in the summer holiday following the Astrophoria Foundation Year including for those students who do not secure or choose not to continue to an undergraduate place at the University of Oxford.
During the undergraduate years	Ongoing support is offered during Michaelmas Term of the Undergraduate Year for any care experienced and/or estranged students who request it. It can continue on a longer basis as needed.

Research has found that care leavers, out of necessity and experience of being let down, have often learnt to be very self-reliant. Trust needs to be earned by staff and will take time to develop – offers of support should therefore be left open / revisited rather than being one-time offers.

Commitments of support yet to be established

In establishing a new programme, some elements of support are not yet fully established. Below are the commitments to be developed.

It is intended to establish a network of peers that care experienced students can join and be part of. It is also intended to establish a network of Foundation Year students and former students more broadly to provide a network of support for the cohort while on the Foundation Year and beyond. Care experienced and/or estranged students would be invited to join and be part of both networks if they would like to.

Information about key staff and useful contacts

Role	Current Post Holder	Contact details
The Astrophoria Foundation Year Welfare Lead	Cat Purtell	welfare@foundationyear.ox.ac.uk
Director of Student Welfare and Support Services	Kathy Noren	director.swss@admin.ox.ac.uk

Relevant external sources of support

Buttle UK	Buttle UK is a charity dedicated to helping children and young people in the UK who have experienced crisis, living in financial hardship and dealing with multiple challenging social issues.	www.buttleuk.org
Become	For 30 years, Become have stood shoulder to shoulder with children in care and young care leavers, helping them get the support they need.	www.becomecharity.org.uk
The Care Leavers' Foundation	The Care Leavers' Foundation provides much needed help to care leavers.	www.thecareleaversfoundation.org
The Sutton Trust	The Sutton Trust champions social mobility through programmes, research and policy influence.	www.suttontrust.com
The Care Leavers Association	The Care Leavers Association provide advice, guidance and support so that care leavers may fulfil their potential as individuals and members of society and that their conditions of life may be improved.	www.careleavers.com
Isabel's Voice	Isabel's Voice aims to promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing young people in local authority care from becoming socially excluded, by ensuring they have access to services that will assist them to integrate into society.	www.isabelsvoice.org.uk
NNECL	The National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) mission is to support, connect and empower professionals working with care-experienced people in different sectors, with the goal of enabling more care experienced people to access and progress successfully through further and higher education.	www.nnecl.org