Starting a degree and moving to university can be overwhelming. For many students it’s the first time living away from home, the first time to pay bills, and to budget and prioritise. So it’s no wonder many students trip up financially early on, and reach for the phone to finally return that call from mum or dad, in the hope that they will be bailed out.
But what if you don’t have a mum or dad, or are no longer in contact with them? What if you have no support network? This is the harsh reality for many care leavers and estranged students.
Although care leavers may have been forced to be independent from an early age and so university might not be their first experience of living away from home, the experience of arriving at university can be a harsh reminder of their vulnerability – a reminder that without the safety net of parents, they are just one or two mistakes away from adding to the bleak statistics.
Children who are in or have been in care are over-represented in the criminal justice system. A survey of the adult prison population conducted by the Ministry of Justice found that 24% of surveyed prisoners stated that they had been in care at some point during their childhood, though other evidence suggests that the percentage my be as high as 27%, and this despite less than 1% of under-18s entering local authority care each year.
Care leavers are also at a greater risk of homelessness. A quarter of the care leavers who took part in a survey conducted by the Centrepoint charity had sofa-surfed since leaving care, and around one in seven had slept rough.
Government figures show that only 6% of 19-21-year-olds who experienced care while growing up go on to university, and the figure has stuck at 6% for more than a decade. The government has pledged to double that figure by 2024. But this won’t be easy as long as people in care continue to experience turbulent childhoods, without ever being able to settle into a school because they’re moved around like a hot potato from home to home.
While the DfE collects data on the ‘activity’ of care leavers aged 17-21, there are no national figures on longer-term outcomes beyond this point. This means that there is no data on how many of the 6% successfully graduate.
From my own experience as a care leaver, I dropped out at 21 and I know many others like me who met the same fate. I lacked the financial and emotional support necessary to continue with my studies. Most students aim to graduate and make their parents proud, whereas I had no clear idea if and who would even be there at my graduation to clap for my success. I also felt drained from a life trapped in ‘survival’ mode, and had no energy to continue, and so I left. But fast forward and at 33 I am back as a mature student. I can look after myself now, and so I can give myself that second chance to complete what I wasn’t supported to complete back then.
Iron Man, Spiderman and Superman were all adopted. Annie; Tracey Beaker; Harry Potter; Lisbeth The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – all fostered. If only the state was as committed to making people like me succeed as writers appear to be, then perhaps more than 6% of us would make it to university.
Care leavers make up 0.1 per cent of all undergraduates. Where I study, at The University of East London (UEL), there are just over 100 care leavers, and that’s only if you count the ones who self-identify by checking the box when enrolling online. There is still a stigma attached to labeling ourselves as care-leavers. For most of us it’s a time in our lives we just want to forget.
But if you are a student and have been in care at some point in your life, I urge you to check that box. It’s all confidential and ensures that you can access support, which includes a care leaver bursary grant of £1000.
To find out more about what it’s like to be a care leaver and what support there is at UEL, click here to listen to my interview with UEL’s Leading Care leaver and Estranged Students Advisor, Messiah Odinma.