Care leavers and estranged students
We are committed to ensuring that independent students can succeed with usDeciding 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.
London South Bank University has been ranked third in the world for reducing inequality in the prestigious Times Higher Impact Rankings 2024. As such, we are continually seeking to improve our offer for students with care experience and students estranged from their family.
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.
“Getting a headstart in life in terms of living independently and learning and managing new and multiple responsibility can be hard…and you have nobody to rely on but yourself. It’s good to know that the university recognises being in care can affect a person's mental wellbeing and their abilities i.e. money management and that support is readily available and easily accessible”.
“The support at LSBU has been amazing, their ongoing support as being as estranged student has helped unconditionally”.
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.
We understand that some students with care experience do not define themselves as ‘Care Leaver’, and this can sometimes be a legal definition, rather than a personal aspect of identity.
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 of parents due to a breakdown in their relationship and often their wider family networks as well. This could be because of abuse, forced marriage and/or family rejection because of belonging to the LGBT+ community (Unite Foundation and Stand Alone Charity, ‘New starts: The challenges of Higher Education without the support of a family network’, 2015). Estranged students don't have the same legal protections as care leavers.
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 the Student Advice Team.
Our support package for care experienced and estranged students includes:
- Single point of contact - at LSBU, we offer students a point of contact for all queries, concerns and support needs through the Student Advice Team.
- Drop-ins and dedicated events - throughout the year students can join group drop-ins, or meet the team for a range of priority support, including jobs and careers advice. LSBU also celebrates Care Leaver Awareness Week each year.
- Financial support - Care Leaver and estranged students can get support managing their finances with the Student Advice team and via Blackbullion.com. Students with care experience of all ages will be prioritised for support funds, take a look at Student Money Advice pages.
- Bursary - students who are current Care Leavers or Estranged from family and verified by Student Finance will be offered a dedicated bursary of £1,000 a year during their undergraduate studies.
- Year-long accommodation – we’re pleased to be able to offer Care experienced and estranged students priority contracts in our halls of residence, including over the winter and summer breaks, (please ensure to apply by the deadline).
- 24/7 accommodation support – in halls, our Residence Management teams known as Thrive, Accommodation Office Team and Out of Hours Residential Wellbeing Managers are on hand 24-hours a day to provide welfare, wellbeing and support.
- LSBU Active - free foundation gym membership , consideration for paid work as a Sports Ambassador, access to a wide range of clubs and sports activities.
- Ongoing support – throughout your time with us, we can offer regular 1:1 advice, guidance, as well as signposting you to access our high quality student support services around the University from Mental Health and Wellbeing, Disability and Dyslexia Support to Careers Advice.
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 invite you to our annual dedicated ‘Get to know us’ offer holder event and 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. You can ‘tick the box’ via UCAS, and declare during the enrolment form as well as when completing the LSBU Personal Development Plan during semester one. This information will be treated in the strictest of confidence, shared with only key services to support you, 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.
Helpful links
- Become
- Rees Foundation: life-long support for care leavers
- All of Us: community for estranged and care experienced students across the UK
- UCAS: applying to university as student with care-experienced or estranged from family
“Honestly, the Student Advice team have been amazing. As I leave university I feel as if I was supported more than ever. The understanding and genuine assistance was there and it has helped me so much! I have struggled with money, relationships, mental health etc and the university has always been there. There is a reason that rated so highly, you can tell the heart is the right place”.