This piece is by Michelle Anson, AccessHE Uni Connect Outreach Manager
On a crisp Wednesday in January, more than 20 London Higher and AccessHE members gathered at a chilly but picturesque Greenwich campus for a landmark summit around a shared ambition: to create a robust baseline of support for London’s care-experienced students.
The timely roundtable has coincided with a recent ministerial letter to vice-chancellors. Just a few weeks earlier, the letter urged vice-chancellors to make their ‘strongest possible commitment’ to care leavers, calling for comprehensive measures to help them thrive in higher education. The summit provided the perfect opportunity to respond collectively and strategically to this call for action.
Organised by London Higher and the Partnership for Young London, as part of emerging work from the pan-London Care Leaver Compact, the session was chaired by Matthew Blood, virtual head at Islington Virtual School and Dr Richard Boffey, head of AccessHE at London Higher. London Higher is a proud member of the Care Leaver Compact, which has already achieved notable successes for care leavers in London including TfL travel discounts and free NHS prescriptions.
During the meeting attendees heard presentations from the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers and the University of Greenwich and had the opportunity to begin exploring the challenges and opportunities raised by a London regional offer.
Why a regional approach matters
Many of London’s institutions already offer a range of support to care leavers via financial, accommodation and wrap around support, but the offer is not consistent across the capital, due to a diverse HE landscape with institutions of varying size and specialism. There is an opportunity here however, for institutions to learn from one another, and the pooling of resources.
There are examples of excellent practice across the capital. During the roundtable attendees learned about the University of Greenwich’s support offer for care-leavers, which includes financial support via bursaries, 365 accommodation – but arguably most importantly, foster a sense of belonging and community through initiatives such as their BrightFutures programme, that includes a care experienced student led podcast, in which students describe their experiences of higher education.
Many of London Higher’s members run similar programmes for care leavers – Brunel University London offers a football programme developed during the pandemic to help combat loneliness; the University of Roehampton’s I-CAN programme supports care-experienced students into nursing apprenticeships through an eight-week paid programme; and, through a comprehensive institutional commitment, the University of East London has one of the highest proportions of care-experienced undergraduates in the country, providing financial, academic and pastoral support.
Bringing members together in this way to adopt a regional approach, ensures fair representation, collaborative problem-solving and the opportunity to learn from each other. Similar regional approaches have already had proven successes in Greater Manchester and the North East, where coordinated efforts have delivered tangible results for care leavers pursuing and completing higher education through: tailored pre-entry support; one to one campus visits; up to date LA/Virtual School contacts stored in one place; year-round accommodation and summer storage facilities; financial support; and graduation day packages. London now has the opportunity to innovate upon those successes, building on the strong work already seen at many of London’s institutions.
Tackling the big issues: housing, finance and belonging
Housing remains one of the most difficult challenges for care leavers in London and formed a large part of our discussions at our January meeting. For example, we discussed that for many care-experienced students, pursuing higher education can mean losing entitlement to social housing when they move into student halls. This forces an impossible choice: go to university and risk losing secure housing, or forgo higher education to keep a roof over their head. This highlights the need for closer collaboration with local authorities to remove a glaring barrier to higher education.
Many institutions in London already offer all-year round accommodation, including through Unite Foundation Scholarships and individual institutions arrangements. During the roundtable, members discussed a collaborative solution for the many London institutions that don’t have accommodation with those that do; drawing on success from other regional partnerships, care-experienced students could be offered a room at a nearby university, that would otherwise remain empty. Of course, the appropriate safeguards, insurance and fostering a sense of belonging, need careful consideration within these arrangements.
Members discussed the importance of financial support, including bursaries, for care experienced students. Discussing financial support in the current landscape can feel challenging, and bringing a consistency to the financial offer is something that will be worked through during our Care experienced and estranged students (CEES) forum in 2026. Wraparound support is another area to be discussed and explored during the CEES forum, with sharing of best practice in this space as a priority.
What’s next?
The next steps following the summit will be to harness the ambition and momentum from the discussions. London’s Higher CEES forum is well placed to make these ideas a reality, with clear work streams around accommodation, financial and wraparound support. As a partner of London’s Uni Connect programme, and a long-standing deliverer of collaborative outreach in the capital, we are committed to driving this work forward, with partners from across the sector. The proposed Regional Access Partnerships offers a timely opportunity to strengthen this collective effort.
As the widening participation division of London Higher, AccessHE’s upcoming Growth for All Conference will further explore the vital role that London’s Higher education sector will play in the city’s growth plan and Inclusive Talent Strategy. At the heart of this there must be commitment to ensure groups of learners, like care-experienced, are properly supported and equipped to thrive, at university and beyond.
We look forward to meeting with members in earnest to take forwards this crucial work. Because if not now, when?
