Supporting Care Experienced Students

As part of Care Experienced Week 2019, we spoke to Head of Student Experience Monica Hoenigmann about what being Care Experienced means and how Edinburgh College supports Care Experienced students.

What does being Care Experienced mean?

The term “Care Experienced” refers to anyone who has been, or is currently, in care. The care they have been provided may have been given in a range of different settings including foster care, residential care, kinship care, care leaver, at home, in a different community or with prospective adopters.  

Statistics tell us that the number of care experienced people attending college is on the rise but compared to all students their rates of completing courses are generally lower. We’re on a mission to improve this outcome!

The College is a proud Corporate Parent, acknowledging our responsibility to tackle the barriers and issues faced by our looked after young people and care leavers.

Why should students tell us they are Care Experienced?

We encourage students to tell us if they are Care Experienced to ensure they get the best support available to them.

We offer a named contact to offer ongoing support during time at College. This can include support with funding, additional support requirements, academic guidance, assistance with, with planning their progression, employability, emotional support and wellbeing advice throughout their time with us.

What financial support is available?

As well as receiving additional support at College, funding support is available to Care Experienced students across Scotland. More information about the Care Experienced Bursary is available as a download at the bottom of this page.

What else is the College doing to support Care Experienced students?

In November 2018, we joined local authority and university partners across Edinburgh to launch the Hub for Success to increase the educational opportunities available to people who have spent time in care. Through the project we’re committed to tackling the trend of Care Experienced people leaving school at a young age and with few qualifications. We want to give people the confidence to apply for our courses and to help give them the best start to further and higher education.

We have provided training for our staff to raise awareness of their responsibilities as corporate parents. We’ve also established an Edinburgh College Corporate Parenting Forum to work with partners to plan together how we can best support Care Experienced students.

If you’re thinking about coming to college, are already here, or want to know more about the support we offer to Care Experienced students, please get in touch. We’re here to help you achieve the future you want!

We are a very proud Corporate Parent and are delighted to be supporting Care Experienced Week 2019.

Learn more about support for Care Experienced students on our website.