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Care leavers and estranged students
We are committed to ensuring that independent students can succeed with usLSBU has signed both the Care Leaver covenant and the Stand Alone pledge as a commitment to improving services for our care experienced and estranged student community.
Deciding to study at university is a big step, and we’ll be on-hand to offer support, helping you to settle in, focus on your studies and enjoy everything your experience has to offer.
LSBU has signed both the Care Leaver covenant and the Stand Alone pledge as a commitment to improving services for our care experienced and estranged student community .
The term 'care leaver' means that you are care experienced and that you will have been in the care of your local authority for at least 13 weeks at any time since the age of 14 (the 13 weeks does not need to have been all one go). This care will have finished on, or after, your 16th birthday.
If you are unsure whether you have care leaver status, you can check with your leaving care team, personal adviser or see the Coram Voice website for more support. If you haven’t been assessed as a care leaver by Student Finance but think you meet the criteria, please get in touch with the Student Advice Team for support.
Estranged students are young people studying without the support and approval of their parents due to a breakdown in their relationship – this might be their biological, step or adoptive parents, and sometimes their wider family members.
If you haven’t been assessed as estranged by Student Finance but think you meet the criteria, please get in touch with the Student Advice Team for support.
For further information about how we can support your journey at University, please contact your point of contact - The Student Advice Team.
Our support package for independent students includes:
- Year-long accommodation – we’re pleased to be able to offer independent students up to 52-week contracts in our halls of residence, including over the Christmas and summer breaks.
- 24/7 accommodation support – in halls, our Operational Residence Management teams, Accommodation Office Team and Out of Hours Residential Wellbeing Managers are on hand 24-hours a day to provide welfare, wellbeing and support.
- Financial support – independent students can get support managing their finances with the Student Advice team and with this team’s support apply for hardship funds when available.
- Single point of contact – at LSBU, we offer students a point of contact for all queries, concerns and support needs Student Advice Manager and Student Advice Team.
- Ongoing support – throughout your time with us, we can offer regular 1:1 advice, guidance and coaching, as well as signposting you to access wider student support services around the University.
Accessing the support package
If you’re thinking of applying, or have already applied to LSBU, please get in touch with the Student Advice Team, for details on how to access our support package. Once you’ve got in touch with us, we’ll set up a welcome appointment to help understand how we can support you.
We highly recommend identifying your status as a care leaver or estranged student to us, as this helps us to identify and reach out to you while you study with us. This information will be treated in the strictest of confidence, and your application will not be disadvantaged in any way.
The Student Advice Team have one-to-one appointments available either in person or on the telephone throughout the week.
Current LSBU students have a MyAccount that you can use to make appointments with an advisor or ask us a question. See the help guides: How to use MyAccount as a student and How to book an appointment in MyAccount. Can’t log in to MyAccount? See this help guide.