“Overcoming by Degrees”:
exploring care leavers’ experiences
of Higher Education
Georgia Hyde-Dryden, PhD Researcher, Loughborough
University
Supervised by Professor Harriet Ward
1
Study outline
• Explored different perspectives of support
• Two phase study
• Phase 1
• Questionnaires sent to student support staff and
undergraduates at universities across England
• Phase 2
• Telephone interviews with student support staff and
leaving care staff
• Face to face interviews with care leavers, students
from low income backgrounds and first generation
students
2
Participants: care leavers
• Phase 2
• 18 care leavers (3 male, 15 female)
• 4 at Russell Group universities; 4 at pre 1992; 10 at
post 1992
• Interviewees aged 19-37
• 9 out of 18 were mature students
• Half were in foster placements immediately prior to
leaving care
3
Participants: support providers
• Leaving care staff at 12 authorities
• Spread out geographically (except London)
• Student support staff at 18 universities
• 9 post 1992 universities; 6 pre 1992; 3 Russell Group
• Spread out geographically
4
Support provision in universities
• Universities at differing stages in developing provision
• 3 broad types of support in universities –
• Universal support (i.e. counselling)
• Discrete support (i.e. care leaver bursaries)
• Enhanced support (i.e. reduced cost fresher’s week
tickets)
• All universities reported developing provision aimed
specifically at care leavers
5
Support provision in universities
contd.
• Most common forms of care leaver support
• 365 day accommodation
• care leaver bursaries
• named contacts
• Levels of care leaver bursaries: £500 (one off payment)
to £1,500 per annum
• £1,000 per annum most common level of care leaver
bursary amongst sample
6
Obstacles to support provision
• Identifying care leavers/ encouraging disclosure
• Volume of information aimed at new students
• Mutual understanding between universities and local
authorities
• Staff time
• Regional networks provide one solution
7
Support provision in local
authorities
• Differing stages of developing provision
• Emphasis on tailored support
• Levels of financial support varied
(e.g. income top up; weekly allowance; repayment of
student loans)
• Mixed plans for £2,000 care leaver bursary
8
Support provision in local
authorities contd.
• Contributions made for books/ course materials/ travel
• All authorities supplied or paid for a laptop
• Non financial support:
• Levels of ongoing contact varied
• Examples of support included driving students to
university; attending open days; arranging tailored
campus visits; organising aspiration raising/ cultural
events
9
Obstacles to support provision
• Maintaining contact with care leavers
• Mutual lack of understanding
• Obtaining information on support packages/ identifying
key staff in universities
10
The Buttle UK Quality Mark
• Positive and growing impact
• Provides internal leverage and a useful framework for
developing support
• Growing external recognition
• Student awareness
11
Care leavers’ experiences
• Overall care leavers demonstrated
• High levels of determination and self reliance
• Little expectation of support
12
Self reliance
“I mean… I never really…. I’ve never ever requ-,
relied on anyone. I mean that was through…
through from what I’ve gone through… er… I’ve just
never relied on anyone. If… if … I’m gonna have to
do it myself. That… That was it from foster care.”
(Peter)
13
Disclosing a care background
• Care backgrounds not relevant to university life, but
individuals willing to disclose for a specific reason
• Highlights importance of
• UCAS tick box
• Awareness of the availability of support
• Understanding the implications of disclosure
• Students willing to let staff know if they want less contact
14
Awareness of support
• Being made aware of support is very important to care
leavers
“I thought that the minute I turned 18, er.... just
started uni.... that that’d be it. Then I wouldn’t ..... I
wouldn’t get any support at all.”
(Rachael)
15
Timing of information
• Timely support is important
“When you’re starting your course, the only worries,
you know, if you call them worries is to be doing your
course. It’s the content of the course and the actual
work.... that’s what you’ve come to university to do. All
the rest is just superficial and it should ... you
know...really should be sorted out before you turn up
... “
(James)
16
Supportive relationships
• Feeling comfortable and trust are important factors in
seeking support
“I seem to tag onto the Connexions worker, or I see her
as my worker. …. She’s not my worker, but I see her as
my worker. So every time I ring her, I don’t ring others
‘cause I’m used to her now.” (Kerry)
• Named contacts popular sources of support (valued for
flexibility, approachability and reliability)
17
Supportive relationships contd.
• The potential impact of supportive relationships
“Cause otherwise I probably would’ve, would’ve
missed out and not applied.”
(Susan)
18
Supportive relationships contd.
“.... rather than just thinking ‘oh well, just put the
cats in a shelter ‘cause it doesn’t matter, they’re only
cats kind of thing..... it was kind of like taken
seriously.”
(Anna)
19
Supportive relationships contd.
“It was really reassuring. It really looked nice. I
thought yeh, this is cool. I want to go there.”
(Verity)
20
Accommodation
• Majority of students in sample in private rented
accommodation
• Fear of isolation
• Risk missing out on activities and friendships made in
halls
21
Finance
• Mixed experiences
• Lack of support awareness/ confusion
Matt: “So I’ve…. I phone up…. I said, ‘You must have
this wrong. I haven’t applied for anything.’
….tick…tick….tick…….. I’d hear the woman on the
computer… ‘No, no, it’s definitely right. You’ve got a
bursary.’
Int:
Do you know what the criteria were that you… you
got it for?
Matt: No. I haven’t got the foggiest.”
22
Finance contd.
• Timing of payments could be problematic
• Very mature attitudes to finance
“I mean another main thing that I..... I have always
wanted to do was make sure that my credit ratings
good ...... because obviously from a young age being in
care I understood what credit rating was, whereas now
people at uni don’t even understand that you’ve got to
build up a credit rating at some point in your life.”
(Kezia)
23
Mature students
• Lack of basic study skills (essay writing, grammar)
• Coping with pre-existing debts and/ or child care
“You don’t have any concept of paying bills and what
bills have to be paid..... and I wasn’t prepared for any
of that, so I’m still living with the consequences.”
(Ruth)
24
Conclusion
• Support for care leavers going into higher education is
increasing
• Universities and local authorities at differing stages in
support development
• Buttle UK Quality Mark is raising the profile
• Care leavers show determination and self-reliance
• Mixed experiences of support
• Importance of timely, accurate and clear information
• Flexible support
• Support can enable care leavers to get on with being
students
25
Finally
“So about a week in, I was like… kind of had a really
crap lecture or something. I just wanted to leave
uni….. opened the box and found four tubs of Angel
Delight, a £20 note in there and a card saying ‘Smile
– life can only get better from today onwards.”
(Elliot)
26
Overcoming by Degrees
Thank you
Email: g_hydedryden@hotmail.com
27