Care Experienced (Scotland)

The Scottish authorities define a care experienced student as being aged 16 years or over but under 26 and having, at any time in their lives, been looked after by a Local Authority.

• Evidence of Care Experienced (Scotland) status
  Share your SAAS letter confirming your Care Experience Bursary or alternatively provide an LA letter. Please ensure your LA letter explicitly states ‘looked after’, ‘care experienced’ or ‘care leaver’ – if you are unsure, please send this application guidance to your LA for assistance or discuss with your University contact.

Statutory Care Leaver (England, Wales & Northern Ireland)

Care Leaver is a legal status that can begin at age 16 and lasts until 25 if in Higher Education. There are several different categories of Care Leaver but all legal definitions are eligible for the Unite Foundation Scholarship Scheme.

• Evidence of Statutory Care Leaver status
  Ask your Local Authority for a letter on headed paper confirming that you are a statutory care leaver; ideally stating which category you fall into, i.e. Relevant, Former Relevant, Eligible or Qualifying. Ask them to include in this letter the support they will provide for you whilst you are at university. Alternatively, please provide a copy of your most recent national (SFE, SFW or SFNI) student finance award confirming explicitly you are in receipt of funds specifically for care leavers.

Estranged from family

If you are estranged from both of your biological parents, adoptive parents, or only living parent, you may be eligible to apply for the Scholarship as an estranged student. Student Finance (SFE, SFNI, SFW) or Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), considers you an independent student on the basis of being estranged from your parents if you are permanently not in contact with your parents.

• Evidence of Estranged status
  Ask your student finance/award office for a letter on headed paper stating that you have been assessed as an independent student on the basis of estrangement. If you are unable to provide a supporting letter for estrangement as it has not yet been decided, please enclose the application and supporting documents that you have submitted to Student Finance to apply for independent status as an estranged young person.

Application routes - Who can apply?

There are two slightly different application routes available, depending on what year of study you will be in 2023-2024, with different eligibility criteria and different benefits offered.

Route 1 (Application via the Unite Foundation website)

To be eligible to apply via the Unite Foundation, you must be a care leaver, care experienced (Scotland), OR estranged, and meet all the following criteria:

• aged 25 or under on 1st September 2023; and
• undertaking your first and only course of undergraduate study and in year 1 beginning September 2023; and
• studying at, or holding a firm choice offer from, one of the University of London Member Institutions listed above; and
• a UK home fee status student, i.e. not an international student; and
• receiving, or applying for, student finance or NHS funding for day to day living costs, reflecting care leaver/care experienced/estranged student status.

Further details about eligibility are given on the Unite Foundation application portal.

Route 2 (Application direct to the University of London)

To be eligible to apply direct to the University of London, you must be a care leaver, care experienced (Scotland), OR estranged, and meet all the following criteria:

• aged 25 or under on 1st September 2023; and
• be entering your second or higher year of undergraduate study, or your first year of postgraduate study, in year beginning September 2023; and
• studying at one of the University of London Member Institutions listed above; and
• a UK home fee status student, i.e. not an international student.

How many places are available?

Nine

How will the scholarship awards be decided?

The Unite Foundation website outlines how the awards are decided.

What will the selected students receive?

A catered standard single study bedroom at Nutford House or a catered en-suite room at College Hall, free of charge for 365 days commencing the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. The Scholarship is awarded for up to three years, subject to the Scholars meeting certain requirements during the course of each academic year.

Scholars will also benefit from the enhanced pastoral support offer outlined in our Support for Care Leavers and Estranged Students Policy. 

How do you apply?

Apply online via the Unite Foundation application portal. You will be asked to upload evidence of eligibility, so get that organised before you start.

When is the application deadline?

The deadline for applications via the Unite Foundation website is 23:59 on 1^st June 2023. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.

The awards will be confirmed to the selected students on 29^th June 2023.

More information

Please see the Unite Foundation website for full details. You can contact residential.life@london.ac.uk if you still have questions after reading the Unite Foundation guidance.

How many places are available?

Three

How will the scholarship awards be decided?

A Panel, chaired by the University's Student Health & Wellbeing Manager, will review applications and determine which applicants will receive an award.

We anticipate that demand for these scholarships will be greater than the number of places available. Decisions made by the Panel will be final and with regret, not open to feedback or appeal.

What will the selected students receive?

A catered standard single study bedroom at Nutford House or a catered en-suite room at College Hall, free of charge for 365 days commencing the start of the 2023-2024 academic year. The Scholarship is awarded for one academic year at a time. Any awards for future years would be made only on the basis of a new application.

Scholars will also benefit from the enhanced pastoral support offer outlined in our Support for Care Leavers and Estranged Students Policy. 

How do you apply?

Please email residential.life@london.ac.uk with the following:

• your full name, current address, and date of birth;
• proof of care leaver or estranged status (see acceptable evidence documents above);
• a statement (750 - 1000 words) outlining why you wish to apply for the Scholarship and how you feel you would benefit from the award; and
• details of the course (subject, year, and place of study) that you are studying in the 2023/24 academic year.

When is the application deadline?

The deadline for applications directly to the University of London is 12:00 (midday) on 10^th July 2023. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.

The awards will be confirmed to the selected students in the week commencing 24^th July 2023.

More information

Please contact residential.life@london.ac.uk if you have any questions.

If you are currently receiving the 2022-2023 University of London Care Leavers & Estranged Students Scholarship, you can apply via direct application to the University of London (Route 2) to be considered for one of the three awards available in 2023-2024.

Because we expect there to be more applications than places available, we advise you to also separately apply for re-admission to your Intercollegiate Hall via the normal re-admissions procedure open to all students. If you are successful in your scholarship application, your accommodation next year would be free of charge.

If you are regrettably not selected for the 2023-2024 award, then you would be billed for next year's accommodation at the normal rate. With this in mind, you may wish to select a room type that fits your budget when you fill out the readmission application form. If you were later awarded the 2023-2024 scholarship, subject to availability, we would allocate you the standard room type for the Scholarship (a single en-suite room at College Hall, or a standard single room at Nutford House).