At the start of this new academic year, many of our new students would have joined us with the support of their parents or their wider family.
However, some will have started their university journey on their own as independent students. These resilient individuals are having to manage this change without the safety and security of a family support network behind them.
The Student Inclusion Team within Widening Participation and Social Mobility (WPSM) offers advice and guidance to those studying without parental support. The team has been working to ensure that these students have a positive transition to university life by meeting each new student known to them and introducing them to their designated point of contact who can offer bespoke support to suit their needs.
Over the summer the Care Leavers Project Team, including members of staff from Student Success and the Access Team, ran an internship scheme working with current independent undergraduates to co-create an Independent Student Budgeting Guide.
The guide is designed to help empower prospective and current students to manage their finances, improve their budgeting, and learn more about what financial support they may be entitled to.
Through this collaboration the team used student voice to help shape the support on offer while working with students who have first-hand experience of the additional barriers care leavers can face.
During this years’ National Care Leavers’ Week learn more about the support available for care leavers or those studying without the support of family network on our website.
The Student Inclusion Team has also been running some events over the course of National Care Leavers’ Week to enable students with shared experiences the opportunity to meet and socialise with one another.
If you are currently studying without the support of your family and would like to learn more about how the university can support you, please get in touch by emailing [email protected]
