A #HomeAtUniversity for care experienced and estranged students – what have we learnt?

This blog was authored by Fiona Ellison, Co-Director at Unite Foundation, in conversation with her co-Director Kate Brown and Unite Foundation Student Ambassador Ikra Shabbir. Ikra is a PhD researcher studying at the University of Huddersfield and is currently working with the Unite Foundation to advocate for the importance of a #HomeAtUniversity.

It is the seventh and final blog in HEPI’s series with the Unite Foundation on how to best support care experienced 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; the blog on what data can tell us about care experienced and estranged students here; the blog on thinking beyond admissions in access and widening participation work; and the blog on the accommodation experience of care-experienced and estranged students here.

Fiona: We’ve worked with HEPI and other stakeholders on six blogs over the past six months, all exploring the importance of a safe and stable home at university for care experienced and estranged students. What stands out to you most from the series?

Kate: What I’m reminded of is how foundational accommodation is for the access and participation of care experienced and estranged students in higher education. Offering these students a safe and stable home can have a significant impact on their journey to get to university, stay the course and achieve their potential.

The University of Nottingham’s blog shared their offer of free accommodation to all care experienced  first year students, which has increased applications and enrolment for care experienced students. As they shared in the blog:

 The goal was not just financial relief but a holistic transition into university life – setting our students up for success.

Looking holistically at elements that impact success Sarah Ead from Global Student Living explored in her blog what the survey data from students living in PBSA across the UK can tell us about the experience of care-experienced and estranged students. Students in these groups report markedly lower satisfaction than their peers with their initial moving-in experience – perhaps reflecting the lack of familial support these students can draw on and resulting in a greater sense of uncertainty, stress or isolation.

Ikra: In different ways, all the blogs in the series show that it is essential that care experienced and estranged students are able to access all-year-round accommodation because this has a positive impact on all other areas of their lives,  including their education and enables them to settle in higher education in the same way as their peers do. As a Unite Foundation ambassador, I therefore champion and advocate for all higher education institutions to implement the Unite Foundation’s Blueprint because it covers all foundations of what a ‘home’ at university really means.

Kate: This was reiterated in the first blog of the series, by our Chair John Cater, who highlighted the evidence we have that care experienced students provided with a free, safe and stable home are as likely as their peers to complete their course and with a 1^st or 2:1.

Fiona: On an issue like accommodation that is so central to student experience and outcomes, but so complex, what do you think leadership looks like?

Kate: Change in complex systems has to happen at multiple points in the system – in this case, we see it coming from universities, students, corporates, third sector organisations and local and central government.

The blogs in the series contributed by the University of Nottingham and the University of Sheffield demonstrate the leadership that is happening in some higher education institutions. These universities are responding to the acknowledgement that accommodation is not a side issue but central to access, retention and academic outcomes, by placing it at the heart of their interventions.

We welcome the leadership our founder and champion, Unite Students, has shown in being the first PBSA provider to sign-up to the Care Leaver Covenant. From our joint report and blog with Global Student Living, we know that students in this group living in PBSA accommodation across the UK are more likely than their peers to say that their accommodation has a negative impact on their well-being. We will continue to support and encourage Unite Students and other PBSA providers to listen to and respond to care experienced and estranged students living in their buildings.

We think government has a particular leadership role to play around data. It is only with accurate, recent, widely available data about the access, retention and outcomes of care experienced and estranged students at university that stakeholders across the system can know where and when action is needed, and to understand if progress is being made. We call on the Department of Education to direct HESA to mandate an estranged student flag in university returns, and to ensure that HESA data tables are made freely available. And as the Children’s Wellbeing and School’s Act strengthens guidance for Local Authorities on publication of their Local Offer for Care Leavers, we call on Local Authorities to adopt evidence-based practice in relation to accommodation for care leavers in higher education.

Ikra:  Strong leadership is when individuals working at a strategic, senior and policy level actively listen, acknowledge and understand the needs of care experienced and estranged students in higher education, and use their power and platforms to create change. I am a firm believer that no issue is too complex to resolve; it just takes time and finding individuals who are passionate and willing to make a positive influence for those who need it the most. If we work together, anything is possible!

Fiona: What will you be doing next to work towards a safe and stable home at university for all care experienced and estranged students?

Kate: We are currently working on a resource for Student Union Officers, building on our Blueprint for a #HomeAtUniversity. The Blueprint is a free and growing set of case studies and resources, a guide for universities looking to build a safe and stable home at university for care experienced and estranged students. The resource for Student Unions will give officers the tools they need to advocate for change in their own university context. Let us know if you’d like to know more about the resource when it goes live.

And in terms of what’s next – a challenge to you Fiona, to keep the importance of accommodation alive as you continue to sit on the Department for Education Access and Participation Task and Finish Group. Accommodation is a foundational issue for care experienced and estranged students, as it is for other vulnerable groups. It’s also important that government doesn’t look at access and participation in a silo, but recognise that it links to other crucial government functions, including the student maintenance system and the children’s social care system.

Ikra: As an ambassador, I am keen and very excited to work alongside Fiona and Kate to make a positive change in higher education for care experienced and estranged students! I will use my knowledge as a PhD researcher exploring the support for estranged South Asian women students in higher education to advocate for other care experienced and estranged students, ensuring their voices are heard and policy is shaped by their lived experience. Secondly, I will also aim to enhance the professional practice, skills and knowledge of professionals who provide vital support to care experienced and estranged students and enable them to succeed academically. Guarantors were a fundamental issue for the estranged students in my PhD research, so overcoming this problem would make the transition into higher education much easier for this group of students; hence,  this will be my third area of focus.

Above all, I will champion that higher education is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself, shaping today, tomorrow and future generations. Allowing care experienced and estranged students to access safe, stable and quality accommodation will help them to flourish as individuals and make a valuable contribution to society. Equally, acknowledging the issues this particular group of students’ face will also enable the government to respond to the importance of intersectionality, the vital need for systemic change in higher education and will support students from other widening participation groups such as refugees, those with disabilities and low-income households throughout their higher education trajectory.