ONE.

Student

Edge Hill University is committed to ensuring that Care Experienced and Estranged Students are welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed throughout their higher education journey. Our approach and support is embedded in our Access and Participation Plan (APP), Widening Access and Student Success Strategy, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, and has been recognised for its quality and impact through our repeated achievement of the NNECL Quality Mark.

Before students join us:

• Named contact in the Widening Access and Student Success Team provides personalised pre-entry information, advice and guidance. This includes:

o               Support with researching courses, applying to HE, and understanding student finance.

o               Bespoke campus visits and introductions to staff and students.

o               Liaison with Local Authorities, Virtual Schools, and supporters.

• Students are eligible for places on our outreach programmes, such as the Edge Hill University Access Programme, Uniconnect activities for CEES students within the Northwest region, and can connect with current CEES students through events and our online Ambassador Platform via our website.

• Our Fair Entry Criteria includes a two-grade reduction on application for CEES applicants, alongside financial support for travel to Open Days, interviews, and Offer Holder Days on-campus.

• A dedicated contact line is available during Clearing and Results Day for CEES students, including advocacy with admissions and discussion of alternative routes (such as Fastrack) which may be suitable for students.

When You Are Studying:

• Dedicated on-course support through the Student Support Team, with each CEES student assigned a key contact to help students coordinate any academic, wellbeing, and financial support they require

• Undergraduate students can request to stay in University halls of residence accommodation for 365 days a year for the duration of their course, with flexible payment plans, extended stays after graduation, a warm welcome pack at move-in and gift hampers in the Christmas period.

• Financial support includes:

o               A £1,000 annual Care Leaver Bursary for statutory care leavers.

o               A summer financial support package to assist with accommodation, food and travel costs.

o               Assistance with graduation costs (including robe hire, photo package and accommodation)

o               Eligible for the Thrive Fund.

o               Ability to apply to the Student Support Fund

• Health and wellbeing support through our Wellbeing Team, Social Prescriber, and Faith and Community Team

• Eligible for our institutional support programme Thrive and Thrive Plus, which is packed with activities, events and opportunities to give students’ the edge when it comes to navigating university life, including social sessions, career enhancing trips and events, and personal development opportunities.

• Social activities and community building through:

o               The CEES Students’ Union Society.

o               Paid opportunities such as Student Advisory Panels and Student Guide roles (with guaranteed interviews for CEES students)

o               Access to activities and events run by our Student Life team via the Student Life portal

Progression and Graduation:

• Careers and employability support for three years after graduation, including extended appointments, targeted job opportunities, and alumni networking events (Diverse Voices panel series).
• Guidance on postgraduate study, moving on from university, and independent living.

To best support students effectively, our dedicated staff regularly attend professional development training and we have also developed a ‘supporting staff to support students’ toolkit in collaboration with our students, to help staff from across the university more ably support care leavers, care experienced and estranged students.

Our partnerships and pledges:

We work with a number of organisations to help us extend and enhance our work with care-experienced and estranged students and have been recognised for our work in supporting these students to access and succeed in Higher Education. Find out more about the organisations we work with:

Care Leaver Covenant

The Stand Alone Legacy Pledge

Become/Propel

For further information and support, please contact the Widening Access and Student Success Team by emailing: wass@edgehill.ac.uk

End statement:

At Edge Hill University, we already offer care experienced students support pre-entry through to graduation. We aspire to continuously develop our offer further, responding to best practice and research recommendations.  We are currently exploring the provision of further support for students progressing from Edge Hill and will update this offer when relevant.

TWO.

A robust employment offer

Students with experience of care or estrangement studying at Edge Hill have a guaranteed interview for our paid on-campus Student Guide role.  This role involves working with prospective EHU students to informing them about the benefits of university and talk about student life at Edge Hill.

We also promote further on-campus paid roles to students with experience of care or estrangement including:

• Eligibility to apply for our paid Student Advisory Panel opportunity, where they have frequent opportunities to share their lived experience and help shape the future of university life.
• Our Campus Connectors and Student Helper roles on campus with the Student Life team running events and activities for the student community
• Casual and part time positions in our on-campus sports centre Edge Hill Sport covering a range of roles from fitness instructors, to receptionists.

Students can access the Careers Team for employability support during and up to three years after your studies. This includes CV writing, job applications, and career advice. Additionally, as a care-experienced student, you’re eligible for ‘Get Ahead’ appointments, offering tailored support to help you reach your career goals. Students can also access our Careers vacancy portal, which advertises many different types of opportunities, including part-time roles suitable for students.

Students are also eligible to apply to the Thrive Fund, which provides financial support (up to £1,000) for career-enhancing projects, initiatives, or opportunities that will enhance the development of graduate attributes and enrich your student experience.

At Edge Hill, we will continue to use the Care Leaver Covenant to help develop this area of our support.

THREE.

Community

We have worked with Blackburn with Darwen Council and The Halle O’Brien CIC, to provide Christmas hampers and Easter eggs for care leavers aged 18-24 during the academic year.

As well as having a civic agreement with Wigan Council, Wigan and Leigh College, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and being the flagship university of the borough, the University is a member of Wigan Council’s Corporate Parenting Board and has also provided Easter Eggs for children and young adults in the Wigan area.

We run a free, yearly professional development conference for supporters of care experienced and estranged students in education in order to upskill trusted adults of this key under-represented student group in order to support students’ progression into Further and Higher Education. Attendees are comprised of professionals from Local Authorities, charitable organisations, and educational institutions from across the North West area who attend for a full day of interactive sessions, including workshops and presentations on topics such as pathways into further and higher education, support offers available to students from charitable organisations in the region, Q&A sessions with students of lived experience speaking about their educational journeys and discussion tables on how partners can better work together to enhance processes and support systems between organisations to better support students.

Our Law Clinic offers free initial legal advice on most personal legal issues to students, staff and members of the wider community.

Each academic year, the University runs free inaugural lectures and online/in-person seminars and events in relation to a range of academic research areas across institutional staff and invited external staff, which are open to the community.

Edge Hill also runs the The Centre for Social Responsibility (CSR) which acts as an internationally recognised hub for high quality research and knowledge exchange within the broad sphere of social responsibility and civic engagement, with the CSR regularly running events in the community such as the Collaboration Café.

Our Arts Centre provides a comprehensive programme of events and activities for institutional staff and students and the wider community. These include dramatic performances, film screenings, poetry slams, comedy gigs, and music concerts.

Our on-campus sports facilities, Edge Hill Sport are also open to the community and we have a range of membership options available for members of the public.

At Edge Hill, we will continue to use the Care Leaver Covenant to help develop this area of our support.