Beyond admissions: rethinking access through stability, support and partnership

Over the weekend HEPI published blogs on ‘If everyone hates today’s student loans, where are the big alternative ideas?‘, strategic care for international students and research collaboration 10 years on from Brexit.

This blog was kindly authored by Ailsa Wilding, Head of Access, Strategic Evaluation & Partnerships at the University of Sheffield.

It is the fifth blog in HEPI’s series with The Unite Foundation on how to best support care experiences and estranged students. You can find the blog on a #HomeAtUniversity here; the blog on the University of Nottingham’s work on access for care leavers here; the blog on inclusive winter planning here; and the blog on what data can tell us about care experienced and estranged students here.

Recent policy discussion has reinforced the importance of sustained support for care-experienced young people beyond the age of 18. UCAS’ expansion of its application fee waiver to care leavers up to age 26 removes a direct financial barrier at the point of application and supports earlier disclosure, enabling universities to identify needs and offer tailored support sooner.

However, for care-experienced and estranged students, accommodation stability and financial security remain among the most significant barriers to continuation and success.

At the University of Sheffield, these challenges are understood as core Access issues rather than downstream welfare concerns. Support for care-experienced and estranged students is embedded in a whole-journey model, spanning pre-entry, transition, study and progression, encompassed within the University’s Access, Participation and Progression approach.

Access support from the outset

Support begins before students arrive. Through our Access+ programme, Sheffield provides targeted pre-entry support for care-experienced and estranged applicants, including contextual offers, a named point of contact and tailored advice throughout the application process. These measures recognise both prior educational disruption and the practical realities faced by applicants navigating higher education without family guidance, demonstrating how admissions policy supplemented by curated support can actively contribute to widening participation rather than acting as a neutral gateway.

Sheffield is also a signatory to the Government’s Care Leaver Covenant and holds the NNECL Quality Mark, reflecting sustained commitments to cross-institutional support of care-experienced young people aged 16–25. Importantly, this commitment extends beyond outreach and admissions into student support, accommodation and employability.

Growing participation, growing responsibility

The need for sustained, joined-up support is underscored by rising participation. Student Finance England data show that in 2017/18 the University enrolled 12 care leavers and 55 estranged students. Indicative figures for 2025/26 suggest this has increased to 23 care leavers and 78 estranged students – almost doubling the number of care leavers we support.

As participation grows, so too does institutional responsibility. Supporting access without addressing continuation risks reproducing disadvantage within higher education itself. Continued support throughout a student’s time at university is essential, particularly with attention to housing and financial security.

Accommodation as a barrier

For many care-experienced and estranged students, the absence of a family home creates ongoing uncertainty, particularly during vacations and periods of transition. Insecure or short-term accommodation can undermine wellbeing, disrupt academic engagement and affect retention.

Accommodation support is closely integrated with Sheffield’s wider Access and Participation investment. Care-experienced and estranged students may receive a non-repayable University Bursary of up to £10,000 per year for full-time students (or £5,000 for part-time students), automatically awarded for each year of study.

In 2017, after reviewing the support available to our most vulnerable students, we recognised that care leavers were navigating a confusing patchwork of small grants and that some were missing out altogether. We wanted to create something simpler, fairer, and more meaningful, so we brought these funds together to establish the University Bursary for care leavers. Set at £10,000, the bursary reflects the reality that accommodation is the biggest financial barrier for many students in the city, helping to cover rent and utilities while easing the wider pressures of living costs so students can focus on their studies and feel more secure during their time at university.

This is complemented by the Unite Foundation Scholarship, which contributes directly towards accommodation costs. Together, these forms of support reduce financial pressure, limit the need for excessive paid work and support students to remain engaged with their studies. This continuity removes a major source of anxiety and enables students to plan their studies with greater confidence.

Students themselves often describe the impact in simple terms:

Moving in felt like a new chapter – having a place that felt secure made all the difference.

Implications for the sector

Sheffield’s experience suggests that effective support for care-experienced and estranged students depends on closer alignment between access, admissions, accommodation and financial support. Housing stability, in particular, should be treated as a core component of access and success rather than a peripheral concern.

Partnerships between universities and accommodation providers can play a valuable role in addressing structural disadvantages when they are embedded within institutional Access, Participation and Progression strategies and supported by sustained financial investment.

Mary Vincent, Vice-President for Education at the University of Sheffield, reflects:

Student wellbeing sits at the heart of everything we do at the University of Sheffield. For care-experienced and estranged students in particular, feeling safe, secure and supported is essential. Our partnership with Unite Foundation, alongside our bursary provision, helps remove uncertainty around housing and finances, allowing students to focus on learning and making the most of their time at university.