Our commitment to you
We are committed to providing fair access, information, advice and guidance to prospective students who have spent time in local authority care.
Who is a care experienced student?
The ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø defines a care experienced student as the following:
- a student who has spent time in local authority care
- is registered on a first-time full-time undergraduate course
- is classed as a 'home' student
- is under 25 years of age at the start of their course
What does it mean to be an estranged student?
Estranged students are those who are studying without the support and approval of either of their living parents due to a break down in their relationship and this is unlikely to change- this might be biological or adoptive parents and sometimes wider Kinship carers such as grandparents, aunts or uncles. There are many complex reasons for being estranged, and no two circumstances are the same.
Student Finance England classifies estranged students as:
- a student who has not had contact with either or your parents for 12 months or more, or
- a student whose relationship with their parents has broken down in the last 12 months and has no expectation this will change in the near future.
SFE will require confirmation of the estrangement from a professional person outside your family who knows about your circumstances, for example a Teacher or Social Worker, Doctor, Counsellor, Housing Support Worker, Police or Student Welfare/Adviser at College/School.
They may also ask you to provide up-to-date evidence of your estrangement every year while you're studying.
To see if you qualify as an estranged student, you can check out guidance issued by the .
Confidential advice and support
If you are care-experienced or estranged, you can contact Debi Linton (d.linton@reading.ac.uk) confidentially for further information about applying to university in general and the extra support that we provide to care experienced students at the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
Looking for more specific information?
You will find more detailed information and contact details below for student financial support, accommodation, admissions, on-course support and our outreach activities.
