1. Student

Coming to university can be an exciting time, but we understand that it can also be a time of change and many students have concerns or worries. At the University of Liverpool we are committed to supporting care leavers prior to starting their course, and throughout the duration of their studies. Through our University owned accommodation we can provide 365 day per year accommodation.

As part of the University’s Disrupted Education Project, students who have had any contact with Social Services qualify for support with Widening Participation and Student Services. To be eligible for our Care Leaver bursary the student must meet the following criteria:

• Be aged 28 years or under (on 1 September of the year in which they commence their studies); and,
• Have spent a minimum of 13 weeks in Local Authority care since the age of 14; and,
• Be a ‘home’ (UK) undergraduate student or EU undergraduate student classified by the Student Loans Company as ‘home’ for student support purposes.

We can provide the following support:

Widening Participation

Our Widening Participation Team (WPO) work with all Care Experienced young people. This includes care leavers, adopted young people, those who have been in and out of care during their childhood and those who have been involved with Social Services. We can offer the following support:

Bespoke campus visits.

• These visits allow for care experienced young people to come on to campus and meet staff from WPO, academics and undergraduates to discover more about subjects of interest, financial / pastoral support, view accommodation and see what the University of Liverpool can offer overall.
• These visits allow for care experienced young people to come on to campus and meet staff from WPO, academics and undergraduates to discover more about subjects of interest, financial / pastoral support and view accommodation.
• These campus experiences are accessed through our network of established relationships with regional Local Authorities and schools within Merseyside.
• WPO are able to promote and arrange these campus visits directly to staff within Virtual Schools who then facilitate access to the children within their care.
• Campus visits are also promoted and arranged through our network of partner schools where every Designated Teacher for Looked After Children receives targeted communications about the outreach opportunities for children in care.
• WPO works closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure children in care can access our campus. All campus visits are individually arranged around each child and the relevant staff/guardians who are responsible for that child/young person.
• Transport to and from campus is arranged at a convenient time/date for the young person and WPO liaise closely with all concerned to ensure a positive campus experience for the child.

Support throughout the admissions process:

• All Care Experienced applicants will receive comprehensive advice, support and guidance from the university from the point of application to when they are placed within the university.
• Personal support to address any problems or questions care experienced applicants may have about university (from UCAS through to confirmation).
• The university has adopted two approaches to supporting care leavers through the admissions process; local and national
• Locally, WPO works closely with regional Local Authorities to identify care leavers that will be applying to university. Individual meetings with each of these students will be arranged where WPO will engage the young person with a personalised process of support.
• The national approach involves our admissions team flagging all applicants that receive a conditional offer from the university and have identified as care experienced via UCAS. WPO will then contact each individual applicant, from across the country, highlighting the additional support available to them, and begin the process of supporting them through to university transition.
• All applicants are encouraged to attend the Applicant Discovery Days, where they will have the opportunity to meet WPO staff for a one-to-one meeting, be introduced to academics in their subject of interest and receive advice from other university support staff (e.g. money advice). To attend the days, all reasonable UK public transport costs for the student will be met by the University.
• Named contact during Clearing and Confirmation process for care experienced applicants to engage with, (who they will have dealt with already).

As a qualifying Care Experienced student, if you receive an offer from the University of Liverpool, the offer will be reduced by up to one A-Level grade or equivalent (excluding programmes within the School of Dentistry, Health Sciences, Medicine and Veterinary Science).

Priority access to accommodation to all care experienced applicants.

• Deposit payment scheduled to coincide with funding being available from Student Finance England. No guarantor required.

Post Entry Mentoring Project:

• Care experienced undergraduates will be allocated an undergraduate mentor who will offer 3-5 hours of one-to-one support which will focus on referencing, researching, producing assignments and library skills etc.

Student Services

Students Services are responsible for supporting care experienced students during their studies at the University of Liverpool. Prior to starting at University we will contact care experienced applicants to arrange an introductory meeting for the beginning of the academic year. All care experienced students are provided with a named contact within Student Services who will provide support and advice for the duration of their studies, we offer the following:

Care Leaver Bursary of £3,000 for students who meet the criteria below:

• Be aged 28 years or under (on 1 September of the year in which they commence their studies); and,
• Have spent a minimum of 13 weeks in Local Authority care since the age of 14; and,
• Be a ‘home’ (UK) undergraduate student or EU undergraduate student classified by the Student Loans Company as ‘home’ for student support purposes.

In addition we offer support with the following:

• Money Advice including ensuring that the student is receiving the correct level of funding, budgeting advice and discuss applications for discretionary funding from the University Hardship Fund.
• Acting as a link between any external services including Local Authority, Social Service and landlord.
• Liaise with any internal departments including academic departments if a student is struggling or in cases where the student may want to suspend or withdraw.
• Referring to other Student Services departments if required including Disability Team, Advice and Guidance, Counselling and Mental Health.
• Providing a listening ear when the student just wants to talk.

Careers and Employability

• Employability Support Award – a bursary is available to help with the costs of undertaking a work experience opportunity, or other activity to enhance care experienced students’ employability. £5,000 of this fund is ring fenced for care leavers to support employability development.
• Support with exploring career options, connecting with a range of employers, and with making effective work experience and graduate job applications is available through our Career Studio.
• All care experienced students are provided a named contact from Careers and Employability, and specific to their faculty, who can act as an Employability Mentor and support students with employability-related matters on a face to face basis.

2. A Robust Employment Offer

The Careers and Employability offer at the University of Liverpool is focused on enabling students to achieve success. Our innovative and engaging approach ensures that each student has the opportunity to connect with relevant sector professionals, gain new experiences and develop the confidence to be successful in their applications. Our brand new student-led Career Studio is a digitally enabled drop-in space for students to explore their options, connect with employers and perfect their application technique. Our dedicated Faculty Teams work in partnership with academic departments to embed careers and employability throughout the curriculum. Our Employer Engagement Team develop relationships with leading graduate recruiters to offer unique opportunities for our students and the Student Success Team focus on providing support and opportunity across the whole student journey.