Rosie Campbell never thought she would go to college.
Promoted from the age of 10, she initially attempted to apply at 18 but found the process too overwhelming.
“It’s just not something I really envisioned, I thought it was something that was almost too advanced for me to achieve at the time,” says Rosie.
Her teachers at school probably knew she was in a foster family, she says, but it was only mentioned negatively
“The only time in high school that foster care came up was to talk about why certain people are statistically more likely to go to jail, which doesn’t really do much to give kids in foster care much hope for the future,” says rosie
Unfortunately, her experience is anything but unusual.
Only 13% of care leavers start tertiary education before their 19th birthday, compared to 45% of the general population, the government said. The aim is to double this.
And last year in England, 41% of care leavers aged 19-21 were not in education, employment or training, compared with 12% of all young people.
Luckily, Rosie had a supportive foster family, social worker and careers counselor who all encouraged her to apply.
Having completed a foundation course, she is now enjoying her second year studying computer design at Abertay University in Dundee, but really wish there were more open conversations about coming from a caring background.
“Quite a lot of people don’t know about being in foster care — or what they know is quite stigmatized — so I’m very open to speaking about my experiences,” says Rosie.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) surveyed 500 nursing-skilled students and analyzed hundreds of thousands of college applications.
Care-experienced applicants were found
- 38% tend to come from the poorest areas of the UK
- twice as likely to be black or mixed race
- disabled twice as often
- three times as likely to be affected by a mental illness
- 79% more likely to identify as LGBT+
- Leaving care: “I fell through the cracks”
- University strikes: Are my lectures cancelled?
Deep down, Zarak Khan, 18, always knew he wanted to study medicine.
But that became hard to imagine when he was being mentored during his GCSEs, a two-hour bus ride from his school.
“I missed after-school activities like sports and clubs because it took so long to get home and I was so young at the time,” says Zarak.
“If the school had supported me with transportation and even mental health support, that would have really helped.
“I thought I was fine at the time – but looking back, I really could have used it.
“I always wanted to study – but being the first person in my family to go to university I had no guidance. I was a bit clueless.”
Zarak has now realized his dream.
His University in Birmingham has been incredibly supportive, he says, by lowering his entry requirements, giving him a welcome pack upon enrollment and offering mentorship.
“Coming into university and knowing that I have nursing experience, you feel like you don’t fit in with people who have lived normal lives,” Zarak says, “but when you have the right support and the right friends , they can help – and my university has done that.
“Many students want to hide what they are going through – but they need to understand that speaking privately to school or university about your struggles can get a lot of support and that will help in the long run.
“My experiences, yes, they were difficult, but in a way I’m grateful for what I’ve been through — because it made me realize that being in training at all is a privilege.”
Ucas is asking the government to share data on which potential students have been in tutoring — as well as those receiving free school meals — to identify disadvantaged students at the application stage.
It is also recommended that universities make conditional offers to applicants who have been in foster care and meet the minimum entry requirements. This is already the case in Scotland, while the University of Bath is guaranteeing conditional offers for care leavers from 2023.
“While nursing-skilled students have high expectations and motivations for higher education, much of the support mechanisms in place that can help them move forward are unaware because they lack crucial information, advice and guidance to support their decision-making,” he said Ucas boss said managing director Clare Marchant.
Starting next year, the Ucas application form would include seven new “expanding participation” questions to allow students to indicate their individual circumstances, she added.
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