Students with Caring Responsibilities

A caring responsibility may also be short term, such as supporting someone with their recovery following an accident.

Caring responsibilities might include physical care, personal care, emotional support, collecting prescriptions and helping to give medicine, and providing emergency care. It might also involve practical household tasks, managing the family budget, and looking after siblings.

If you are 16 to 25 and have a caring responsibility, you’re considered a ‘young adult carer’ and you may be eligible for additional support.

All carers handle their responsibilities alongside their education differently, and you may still find some occasional support helpful, especially if your circumstances change.

When applying through UCAS, you can inform your university choices that you have caring responsibilities. This informs your university in advance connecting you to the right support for your needs.

Support we can offer you

• Lower grade requirements
  • We understand that personal circumstances may have an impact on your grades at school or college and may not reflect your true potential.
  • Therefore, we have lower grade requirements called a contextual offer, where you will be asked to achieve DDD at A Level or equivalent.
  • This applies to all our undergraduate courses (excluding our foundation degrees and apprenticeships) and is lower than the typical offer shown on the course pages on our website or in our prospectus.
  • Please indicate your caring responsibilities in your application form to the University and ensure that you select the UCAS tick box to indicate these circumstances. You can also put this information in your personal statement or have your applicant referee include this in your reference. Alternatively, you can contact our Admissions team.
• A priority appointment with the Employability Service within 6 weeks of your course start date. You can also access this service before you start your course, by contacting [email protected].
• Guaranteed appointments with the Wellbeing Service within the first month of your course start date, covering information about support with study skills, libraries and disability and inclusion. Our inclusion service can set up adjustments if you are a carer for a disabled child or loved one. Adjustments will vary dependent on need but may include additional time for online exams and/or uncapped alternative sessions.

Financial support

We recognise that you may need financial support whilst studying. The Carers First site can be helpful in sourcing support.

If you are interested in working as a student ambassador (a paid role) you will be fast tracked through to interview. If you have any questions about the opportunity, please email [email protected].

Depending on your circumstances, you can also apply to our hardship funds, and we might be able to take your caring responsibilities into account. Visit our cost of living page for further information and for cost of living advice, including information on budgeting, ways to increase your income and reduce your expenditure. Here you can also find out whether you would be eligible for any of our scholarships or bursaries. You can also visit Blackbullion for resources.

Please note that unfortunately full-time students are not entitled to the Carers Allowance, however if you would like to know more about possible benefits entitlement please contact the University’s Money & Housing Advice Team on [email protected].

You may also be eligible for Council tax exemption, visit the Carers UK website for more information.

Parental responsibilities

When applying through UCAS you have the option to share with your university if you have parental responsibilities. The government offers some financial support for parents: if you have responsibility for a child that usually lives with you, you may be eligible for Universal Tax Credit. If the child has a disability, there is extra support you can apply for too.

Wellbeing

If you are a prospective student and would like to speak to us prior to application, our named contact is [email protected].

Current students can contact their Wellbeing team at their campus for further information on our support.