Carers, Care Experienced & Estranged Students

We appreciate there are practical concerns for some young people who may be care experienced, have limited or no family support, or have additional caring responsibilities when entering Higher Education.

To help you make the transition into higher education, we have a designated member of staff (DMS) on each campus if you need additional support. The DMS is there to support you if you are:

Care experienced. UCA recognises that any time spent in care can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes, and we therefore provide pre-entry and on-course support to care experienced learners. You’re considered care experienced if you are one of the following: a learner who has spent any amount of time in local authority care, adopted and previously in care or if you have experience of kinship care due to being looked after by relatives or a family friend.
A carer. This means you are caring for another person and taking on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult.
Estranged from your family or have limited family support.

In addition to one of the above you will need to be:

Registered on an undergraduate or postgraduate course
Classed as a 'home' student
Under 25 years of age at the start of your course

We will support you by providing a seamless support process from initial enquiry through to graduation. This includes:

Information and guidance on courses and returning to education
Information on paying for your course, help accessing this and other sources of financial help. Carers, care experienced students and estranged students are a priority group for the University's Financial Assistance Fund and we can advise and support students in making an application to this Fund
Help and advice on completing application forms for courses, student loans/bursaries
Help getting your accommodation in place, including liaising with our accommodation department, external agencies and landlords
Help putting additional support in place ready for your course, such as disability and specific learning support difficulties, as well as help accessing other services available including study support, counselling and careers advice
Ongoing welfare support
With your permission, working with other professionals supporting you.

All shared information remains confidential in line with the University’s Data Protection Policies.

Care experienced learners
We strongly encourage care experienced learners to declare this on their application form so that the DMS can contact you to discuss the support available and answer any questions you may have.

In addition to the support outlined above, the DMS can help with the following:

With your permission the DMS will be able to liaise with you and your Social Worker/Personal Adviser to ensure an easy transition and continuous support throughout your studies.

Students on higher education courses may be eligible for the care leavers scholarship and are a priority group for the University’s Financial Assistance Fund. The DMS can advise and support learners in making an application for the scholarship or to the Fund.

UCA offers a Rent Guarantor Service in association with Housing Hand to help students provide a qualifying guarantor when renting privately. UCA are able to offer additional support to care experienced students through this service - please contact the Specialist Adviser on your campus for further information.

The University works with the charity Drive Forward. Drive Forward works with care experienced learners on a one to one basis to improve their employment opportunities and the DMS can refer learners directly to them.

UCA is proud to commit to the Care Leaver Covenant to provide additional support for care experienced learners. The aim of the Care Leaver Covenant is to ensure the following:
- Care experienced learners are better prepared and supported to live independently
- Care experienced learners have improved access to employment, education and training
- Care experienced learners experience stability in their lives and feel safe and secure
- Care experienced learners have improved access to health and emotional support
- Care experienced learners achieve financial stability
Read more about our offer to learners

Useful websites include:
Students who are carers
The University recognises that learners who are carers may have commitments outside of University which can impact on their studies. For this reason, learners who are carers are strongly encouraged to contact the DMS on their campus for additional support and liaison with academic staff if required.

Learners who are carers are a priority group for the University’s Financial Assistance Fund and the DMS can advise and support learners in making an application to this Fund.

Useful websites include:
- Carers UK (see also: Grants)
- Carers Trust (see also: Grants)
- Carers First
- Carers of Epsom
- Action for Carers Surrey
- Sutton Carers Centre
- Carers Support West Sussex
- Carers Support East Kent
- Turn2Us
- Carer's Allowance
- Carer's Credit
- Discounts for Carers
Learners who are estranged from their families
We strongly encourage learners who are estranged from their families to contact the DMS for their campus for any additional support they may need.

The DMS can help learners provide evidence of estrangement for student finance applications and support applications where appropriate.

Estranged learners are a priority group for the University’s Financial Assistance Fund and the DMS can advise and support students in making an application to this Fund.

Useful websites include:

About our support

We are committed to the support and achievement of all our students and recognises that students who are care experienced, without family support or who are carers themselves may have additional challenges in entering and adjusting to University life.

We are proud to be supporting care experienced students through our commitment to the Care Leaver Covenant.
Designated Members of Staff (DMS)
In order to help students make the transition into Higher Education, we have Designated Members of Staff (DMS) who offer seamless confidential support from an initial enquiry through to graduation.

Our DMS can provide the following support:

Pre-entry
- Impartial advice on funding for Higher Education courses, money management and accommodation.
- Referral to other support services such as the Disability & Specific Learning Differences (SpLD) Support Team.
- Arranging a ‘Meet and Greet’ service at Open Days or 1-2-1 visits to the campus of choice.
- Support during interviews.
During course
- Ongoing welfare support including money management, other funding opportunities, accommodation and academic issues.
- Support from the following services: Creative Futures, Disability & SpLD, Wellbeing and Counselling and Learning and Teaching.
- Where permission has been given by you, liaison with academic staff and administrators.
- Referral to external support services, for example Togetherall, Carers Trust and Stand Alone.
- Referral to Drive Forward, a charity with whom the University is currently working to improve the employment opportunities for care experienced students.
- Where appropriate and permission is given, liaison with Social Services or other statutory bodies.
End of course
- Referral to the Creative Futures careers service for progression advice, for example CVs, interviews and support after graduation.
- Referral to other relevant organisations/educational establishments.
- Information and guidance on managing your financesafter graduation.
The DMS will also:
- Act as a point of reference and contact for the young person, carers and professionals working with them.
- Ensure seamless support for the young person.
- Maintain and keep accurate records of all contact.
- Participate in external meetings where requested.
UCA will...
- Regularly review its provision for vulnerable young people.
- Aim to provide 365 accommodation when required. This may at times be subject to availability.
- Monitor student achievements to ensure that timely help and advice is provided.
- Respect the young person’s confidentiality wishes, in line with the University’s confidentiality statement.
We ask that the young person lets the DMS know if they are struggling with their studies or with any other issues as soon as
possible.

Meet the DMS team

The following DMS are the first point of contact for all carers, care experienced students and estranged students:

Canterbury

Anna Mepstead
+44 (0)1227 817 307
amepstead@uca.ac.uk

Epsom

Nyawira Njiraini
+44 (0)1372 202 441
nnjiraini@uca.ac.uk

Farnham

Andrea Beattie
+44 (0)1252 892 612
abeattie1@uca.ac.uk
Disability and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

If you have a disability or a specific learning difficulty our Disability and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Team are committed to
providing a welcoming and supportive environment for our students with disabilities and SpLDs. We aim to encourage an inclusive environment which enables students to develop their skills, knowledge and strategies to manage their own learning and to achieve their full potential.
Wellbeing and Counselling Service

Our wellbeing service provides a safe and approachable environment where anyone can access appropriate help and advice for their mental health and wellbeing. The team work closely with UCA’s counselling service as well as external mental health/ wellbeing providers. Our counselling service provides professional counselling to individual students free of charge.

Our counsellors are professionally qualified with years of experience and are accountable to both the University and to the professional bodies of which they’re members.
Learning and Teaching

Our Learning Development Tutors and Liaison Librarians offer tailored workshops to help you develop the skills you need to study independently and express your research findings. They can also help you to develop skills in research, academic writing, time management and presentation techniques.
Creative Futures

UCA has Careers and Professional Practice Advisors who you can contact to discuss your career development and get practical help with CVs and applications.