Our commitment to you
We are committed to providing fair access, information, advice and guidance to prospective students who have spent time in local authority care.
Who is a care experienced student?
The University of Reading defines a care experienced student as someone who:
- has spent time in local authority care
- is registered on a first-time full-time undergraduate course
- is classed as a 'home' student
- is under 25 years of age at the start of their course.
What does it mean to be an estranged student?
Estranged students are those who are studying without the support and approval of either of their living parents due to a breakdown in their relationship and this is unlikely to change – this might be biological or adoptive parents and sometimes wider kinship carers such as grandparents, aunts or uncles. There are many complex reasons for being estranged, and no two circumstances are the same.
Student Finance England (SFE) classifies estranged students as:
- a student who has not had contact with either or their parents for 12 months or more, or
- a student whose relationship with their parents has broken down in the last 12 months and has no expectation this will change in the near future.
SFE will require confirmation of the estrangement from a professional person outside your family who knows about your circumstances. This could be a teacher or social worker, doctor, counsellor, housing support worker, police, or student welfare adviser at college/school.
They may also ask you to provide up-to-date evidence of your estrangement every year while you're studying.
To learn more, read this guidance from UCAS on estranged students.
Confidential advice and support
If you are care experienced or estranged, you can contact Debi Linton (d.linton@reading.ac.uk) confidentially for further information about applying to university and the extra support that we provide.
