Overview: One to one meetings every semester, each year, for every recipient of the university’s care experienced, estranged, young adult carers or asylum seeker bursary.   

The half-hour meetings are compulsory for bursary recipients and with a consistent contact when at all possible to foster relationship warmth and trust. The same agenda is set for every conversation so students know what to expect, are able to reflect ahead of the meetings, and can rely upon a chance to discuss anything specific to them with a staff member appropriately skilled regarding care experience and estrangement.   

The meeting agenda sees housing matters given equal emphasis alongside academic progress, careers, finances, and mental health/wellbeing.  The holistic form of these appointments openly acknowledges the housing fragility of care experienced and estranged students, plus the known relationship of stress to health and academic focus.    

Resourcing: These scheduled meetings are delivered by the Student Retention and Success team of one full-time staff member and one part-time, term-time-only staff member, of the holistic suite of supportive contact for these student groups (plus carers).  Key to note is that they do not replace the traditional personal tutor/academic advisor relationship, but rather serves to broaden the university’s touch points in a very targeted fashion.  This responds well to the body of research detailing student reticence in disclosing to personal tutors due to stigma or perceived prejudice.  

The Student Retention and Success Team is positioned to connect with minimal friction across the university’s traditionally-structured functional services so that a relevant student can tap into the specific services needed for their situation without the need to reveal sensitive personal history to a succession of university staff. Student notes are recorded in a CRM system and can be reviewed by professional staff within Student Support. It is highlighted which students have these statuses so that appropriate support can be provided. The Student Retention and Success Team works very closely with the Accommodation teams, and both sit on Students of Concern meetings. Students of Concern meetings are regular cross-departmental discussions that bring together professional staff from key university services—such as Student Support, Accommodation, Wellbeing, Security, and Registry, to identify and review students who may be at risk or require additional support. 

Monitoring/Evaluation: An average of 260 students access the system each year with the service aim based on student-centred responsiveness.  Ie the team is not responsible for housing a student but the meeting mechanism ensures housing (or other) matters are explicitly and frequently discussed and plans actioned where needed throughout the student journey. 

At present, quantitative measurement of Student Retention and Success, whether care experienced and estranged students buck national trends on drop-out rates, is monitored by the team each semester.  

You can’t study if you don’t know where you’ll sleep

For most students, accommodation is simply another fun and exciting part of university life. However, for many care-experienced and estranged students, housing is not just a logistical challenge, it is the foundation that determines whether these students can attend, remain and thrive at university. Without secure accommodation, higher education can become inaccessible before a student steps foot in a lecture hall. Care-experienced and estranged students face significant barriers in the process of finding, securing and keeping safe accommodation for the duration of their degree.

University accommodation systems assume that their housing will act as a “home away from home” and that students will use it as their base during their studies but will return to their family home. during holidays. However, this assumption unfortunately does not consider that some students simply do not have a family home to return to, thus student housing is their one and only home.

Providing housing for care-experienced and estranged students is far more nuanced than this one-size-fits-all approach. There are a myriad of issues that care-experienced and estranged students run into and insecure housing means added worry on what is already a stressful transition.

Care-experienced and estranged students do not always have access to the help and support that makes it easy for other students to secure accommodation. Many students take savings, parental financial support and have a family home for granted, but care-experienced and estranged students often do not have these financial and emotional safety nets. Rising rent can price out these students altogether, while unexpected closures and restrictive tenancy lengths can leave them facing homelessness during these periods. Finally, deposit and guarantor requirements mean students cannot secure accommodation in the first place. The result of these issues is not just financial hardship but disruption to studies, increased stress and anxiety and, in some cases, students deciding that university is no longer a viable option.

In England, just 13% of care leavers go to university by the age of 19, and housing insecurity is one of the many barriers that can prevent them from accessing higher education. Attending university should be made simpler and more accessible for care experienced and estranged students, with help and support that is readily available before crisis points.

This is why Higher Education Institutions need to act.

Having safe and secure housing is not separate from academic success, it directly affects it. Students who are worrying about future rent payments or where they will sleep during the summer months cannot fully focus on their lectures, assignments and placements. Uncertainty, financial stress and the inability to focus on university can have a detrimental effect on focus, mental health and general wellbeing which can lead to an increased likelihood of dropping out. However, those who have a safe and secure place to call home can come out of survival mode and truly excel at university, socially and academically.

Higher Education Institutions should be providing care-experienced and estranged students with a Personal Housing Plan (PHP). The emphasis here is on “personal”, because no one’s situation or experience is the same, and every student deserves tailored support. The plan should consider all aspects of the students’ situation. This can include 365-day accommodation to negate the worries around summer accommodation, guarantor provisions, financial assistance and early move-in dates. Addressing students’ issues proactively is key to ensuring students feel seen, heard and understood while instilling confidence that there is clear, organised plan. Knowing students like me have support makes all the difference to my fellow care-experienced and estranged students who maybe  facing instability in their families or finances.

Considering, in partnership with the student, what they want to share with others can be a great opportunity to ensure others in the university who could support you know what would be helpfu. This removes the need for students to repeatedly explain our individual situation, reducing an experience that can be exhausting and emotionally difficult.

This kind of support is more than check boxes on a piece of paper, it requires knowledgeable and sympathetic staff who understand the unique challenges faced by these groups. It is about hearing the students at their level and ensuring a smooth transition for them. They need personalised support, proactive plans and consistency across university departments. Care experienced and estranged students deserve the foundation that secure housing provides.

Universities must do their part so that these students can see paths to university, not barriers.