Students who are estranged or have care experience
Who are care leavers?
You're a 'care leaver' if you've been in the care of your local authority for at least 13 weeks since your 14th birthday, ending on or after your 16th birthday. The 13 weeks don't have to have been all in one go.
If you're a 'care leaver', you're also 'care experienced'. If you're not sure if you're a care leaver, you can check with your care team or personal adviser, or find more info from Coram Voice.
If you haven’t been assessed as a care leaver by Student Finance, but think you meet the criteria, get in touch with us.
Who is care experienced?
You're 'care experienced' if you've ever been in care, or are currently in care, even if you don't have 'care leaver' status. This care may have been provided in many settings, including:
- living with foster carers
- living in a residential children's home
- being looked after at home under a supervision order
- living with friends or relatives in kinship care (the kinship care might have been a formal or informal arrangement).
Care-experienced people could have spent any length of time in care, at any age.
What do we mean by estranged?
Estranged young people are those aged under 25 who aren't communicating with either parent due to a breakdown in the relationship, with the situation likely to remain permanent.
The young person may be estranged and living independently before entering higher education, or may become estranged during their studies. If you're applying or studying without parental support because of bereavement, we'd also include you as 'estranged'.
Types of support
Contextual offer
Our contextual offers give care-experienced and estranged applicants a fairer chance of reaching university. You might be eligible for one automatically based on your postcode.
If you're not eligible for a contextual offer based on your postcode, but are care experienced or estranged, we might still be able to give you one if you tell us more about you.
Financial support
Our bursaries and other financial support helps students manage the cost of living and studying at university.
They include our:
- Care Leavers' and Estranged Students Bursary
- Care Leavers' Accommodation Subsidy
- York Futures Scholarship
We can also advise on other funding opportunities, such as:
Accommodation support
Our accommodation support for care-experienced and estranged students includes flexible contracts and subsidies.
Transitional support
- If you're care-experienced or estranged, we'll invite you to our Step Ahead Induction.
- We have a Student Buddying Scheme to help people feel settled in.
- We can provide you with a large suitcase to move to York.
- We can provide free kitchen and bedding packs.
Visit package
Our VIP Visit Package offers one free return trip to York, including overnight accommodation on or near campus, and lunch, for you and one guest. If you’re under the age of 18, your guest must be 18 or older.
It’s open to anyone with care experience, or anyone estranged from their parents, who’s planning to go to university in the next two years (you don’t have to apply to York after using it).
Over lunch, one of our team will chat with you about the uni experience, and answer questions about the support we can give. You'll also have the chance to visit the department you're interested in, and go on a campus tour with a current student.
Programme priority
Our Widening Access programmes help people prepare for university-level study. If you have experience of care, or are estranged from your parents, you’ll be eligible for a priority place if you apply to join one.
Extra events
We work with Inspiring Choices on their On Track Programme, inviting care-experienced young people and their carers to events during term breaks for more guidance and support.
Gym membership
The University is home to two on-campus sport centres. If you’re aged between 16 and 25, and live in York or North Yorkshire, you’ll be eligible for a free membership.
Current York students who are care experienced, or estranged from their parents, can also access either a free off-peak membership, or a half-price full membership.
Support for foster carers
We run a free, annual online programme called 'Foster their Future', open to foster carers from across the UK. You can be fostering children of any age to join.
We'll share key information about accessing higher education as a care-experienced person, making sure foster carers feel fully equipped to support their young people.
Cohort 4 is due to take place in Feb/March 2026, with applications opening in January 2026.
Support for professionals
Do you support people who have experience of being in local authority care or estranged from their parents?
The University of York's Access and Outreach Team is delivering a series of three free webinars throughout January 2026 which are designed for professionals and supporters of care-experienced and estranged people. This includes social workers, personal advisors, school and college staff, foster carers*, as well as anyone else who might find these sessions valuable. Please note: these webinars are not intended for university staff.
*We also have a separate programme called Foster their Future, aimed just at foster carers taking place in April 2026.
If you have any questions please get in touch at outreach-independent-student@york.ac.uk
Upcoming webinars
- Monday 12 January 2026: 4pm - 5.30pm
A deep dive into higher education - from choosing a course to picking a university and location. This webinar will help you understand the support available for care-experienced and estranged students throughout the entire student journey. - Monday 19 January 2026: 4pm - 5.30pm
Get guidance on making a university application, navigating the UCAS system and knowing when and how to declare care experience - Monday 26 January 2026: 4pm - 5.30pm
Supporting young people to build their money-management skills, this webinar will help you understand how the Student Finance system works including accessing financial support and developing confident budgeting habits.
Having a dedicated contact really made me feel welcome, and is a huge factor for why I love York. It means I have someone to talk to, who's aware of the help I'm entitled to, and I don't have to explain my past for them to understand my point of view.
Current student
Our newsletter
If you're a professional or foster carer who supports care-experienced and estranged people, our quarterly newsletter can keep you updated about our work, as well as guidance and other opportunities.
Support for current students
If you're a care-experienced or estranged student already studying at York, you can find more on the contacts and opportunities available.
Making decisions about your future, and whether university is right for you, can be a challenge for any young person. For people who have experience of being in care, or are estranged from their family, it can be even more daunting, and feel too far out of reach.
Higher education could make a huge difference to your life in so many ways, and we're here to help you overcome any barriers. We offer a wide range of support, from the first stage of thinking about your options, right up to applying, studying at uni, and beyond.
Vanessa Conman, Access and Outreach Manager