From 2008-2022, the number of people Ticking the Box more than doubled – but there is still a long way to go.
This week, we’re running our #TickTheBox campaign during National Care Leavers Week from Monday 28 October – Sunday 3 November. Our campaign aims to provide information and resources about specific support for university and college to care experienced young people, foster carers, other carers and people in the lives of young people with care experience. Read below to find out more.
Many universities still need to make significant improvements in their efforts to identify the people with care experience in their student population to provide them with the correct support. In the 2021/22 academic year, research identified that over 6,000 care leavers at UK universities may have been unknown to their institution and therefore didn’t have access to the support they are entitled to.
‘Ticking the Box’ on your UCAS application lets your prospective universities know that you have care experience. Many universities also have opportunities for you to declare this once you begin your course to access support once you’ve started your course. Colleges have a more varied process, so make sure to ask your prospective further education college about the support they have for people with care experience and how you can access it.
Read this UCAS blog on the main reasons you should tick the box.
Who is ‘care experienced’?
On the UCAS website, care experience is defined as having spent time:
- living with foster carers under local authority care
- in residential care, e.g. a children’s home
- looked after at home under a supervision order
- in kinship care with relatives or friends, either officially with a special guardianship order or informally without local authority support
If you have any of this care experience make sure to tick the box on your UCAS application!
Keep in mind that each university has different definitions of care experience and whether or not you can access support varies depending on those definitions. Make sure to check with your prospective or current university to find out what support you are entitled to. Many universities make their support available to those who meet the legal definition of a 'care leaver' but others extend their support to care experienced people outside of this definition.
Universities are also moving towards including people with experience of adoption in their definition of 'care experience'. Some universities are further along in this process than others so contact your prospective or current university for more information.
Dispelling myths around ‘Ticking the Box’
What happens with the information you provide about your experiences of care?
When you ‘Tick the box’ on your UCAS application it means that staff in the university admissions team can consider your application in context and so your chosen universities and colleges can let you know about the support you’ll be entitled to. This information is confidential and will only be shared with those who need to know. Read more on this UCAS webpage.
Should you mention your care experience in your personal statement?
Mentioning your care experience in your personal statement is an individual choice. Personal statements are for you to explain why you have chosen your course and the journey you have been on to get you there. If you feel that your care experience is a big part of that journey, then including your care experience may add useful context for your application. On the other hand, you might want to focus your statement on other aspects of your experience and suitability for the course.
Read more in this blog by UCAS and Become.
Financial support for care experienced young people
Everyone can apply for student finance to cover tuition fees and maintenance in higher education – this is slightly different depending on where you live in the UK, so check the guides on the UCAS website for more details.
For students with care experience, there is often dedicated funding available – usually in the form of a bursary, that does not need to be paid back. Each university has its own approach to bursaries. Search your prospective or current university on their website or through Propel to find out the specific financial support they provide.
The 2024 #TickTheBox webinar
In the run-up to our #TickTheBox campaign we held our 2024 #TickTheBox webinar on 23rd October for foster carers and care experienced young people. The webinar covered the support available for young people with care experience who want to go to university or college and the importance of ticking the box on the UCAS application.
The webinar was attended by over 100 people with presentations from UCAS, National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL), Propel (Become) and the University of York. Our panelists spoke on topics such as the application process, picking the right university, support for foster carers and university good practice.
For those who couldn’t make it or want to watch our webinar again, the recording can be found on YouTube and our website.
