Students with care experience

We’re committed to ensuring that care-experienced students can succeed at the University of Bristol. We want you to feel safe, supported, and able to reach your potential. Therefore, we offer support and guidance from applying through to graduation.

How do we define care experience?

We have a range of support available for students with care experience, but some support may differ based on if a student is classified as a 'care leaver' or 'care experienced'.

Our definitions are:

  • Care experienced - students who have spent 3 months or more in formalised* local authority care (at any age).
  • Care leavers - students who have been in local authority care for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and are still in care on their 16th birthday.

*Students who have spent time being cared for by a relative or friend without a formal arrangement, such as a Special Guardianship Order, are classified as having been in ‘Kinship Care’. At the University of Bristol, informal kinship care, does not fit our definition of ‘care experienced’, however, it might fall into the category of ‘Estrangement’.

Support for care leavers and students with care experience

If you’re a prospective student, carer or personal advisor, you can contact Josh Shapland in our Widening Participation Team, who can offer advice and guidance throughout the application process.

We deliver online webinars and offer guidance at open days to help you and your support network find out more about applying, funding, and succeeding at university. To find out more about our upcoming events, sign up to our prospective student mailing list.

If you are a current student at the University of Bristol, you can contact Maria Tottle in our Student Inclusion Team, who offers 1:1 advice, support and coaching throughout your time at university.

We run various in-person and online events for current students. If you’d like to stay up to date on what’s happening at the university, sign up to our current students email bulletin.

Alternatively, you can contact Josh and Maria in the Care Experienced and Estranged Students team directly via:

If you have spent three months or more in local authority care, you will be eligible for a contextual offer.

Our contextual offer is a grade reduction of up to two grades below the standard entry requirements.

To claim your contextual offer, all you need to do is tick the ‘care experienced’ box when completing your UCAS application. 

If you are a local student, applying with an Access to HE qualification, or have completed a University of Bristol outreach programme, you may also be eligible for a guaranteed offer or interview.

If you have spent three months or more in local authority care, you are eligible to apply for our Gateway to Medicine, Gateway to Dentistry, and Gateway to Veterinary Sciences courses.

Our 'Gateway to...' courses are aimed at students who have the potential to become doctors, dentists or vets, but do not meet the academic entry criteria to apply directly to our MB ChB, BDS or BVSc undergraduate courses.

Student finance

Care leavers are normally eligible to be independently assessed for student finance. This means that your household income will not be taken into account when your student finance is calculated. Therefore, you are likely to qualify for maximum financial support. Find more information about funding.

Our funding packages

  • Our Bristol Standalone Bursary offers care leavers, estranged or bereaved students (under the age of 25) £1,500 for each year of study (excluding NHS funded years). You will need to apply directly for this bursary.
  • Our University of Bristol Bursary is worth up to £2,500 for all Home UK undergraduates who have been assessed by Student Finance as having a household income of £50,000 or below. You will not need to apply directly for this bursary, but you will need to apply for a maintenance loan.
  • Use our financial support search tool to explore what other bursaries and scholarships you may be eligible for. 

To be considered for our other financial support packages, you will need to complete our Additional Funding Form.

Specialised support

Contact our Money Advice Team who can give advice and guidance throughout the student finance application process, including on how to apply for independent status with Student Finance England/Wales/Scotland/NI. They also offer support to current students.

Further financial support

You may be eligible for some financial support from your Local Authority. Packages of support vary but can include contributions to housing costs, relocation support, help with living costs or bursaries. Find out about your council's care leaver local offer.

Care leavers and estranged students are prioritised when we make accommodation offers. In your accommodation application, you should tell us if you are a care leaver or estranged student. This will help us offer you a suitable room.

Unite Foundation Scholarship
We work with the Unite Foundation, supporting students who have previously been in care or are estranged from their parents. The Unite Foundation Scholarship provides recipients with free en-suite accommodation in Unite House or Orchard Heights. With the Unite Foundation scholarship, you’ll have accommodation and bills covered for up to 3 years of study. That includes through the holidays too, so you don’t have to wonder where to go during reading weeks or over Christmas or the summer break. You can even stay the summer after you graduate to plan your next move. You can find more information about the scholarship, eligibility criteria and how to apply on the Unite Foundation Scholarship webpage. We recommend you read their information and guidance document before applying.

Summer Accommodation
If you need accommodation during the summer vacation, contact our accommodation team as early as possible. We will do our best to support you. You can also request to live in accommodation after first year and your application will be prioritised.

Help with guarantors
Most of our halls of residence do not require a deposit or for you to have a guarantor. If you’re living in private rented accommodation, we have established a relationship with Housing Hand, a company that offer a fully comprehensive guarantor service available to all students.

If you are unable to find a co-signatory for your guarantor application, or the fees are a barrier for you, please get in touch with Maria (maria.tottle@bristol.ac.uk) for help.

During your time as a student with us, you can contact Maria Tottle at any point in the year for wellbeing support. This might be for a chat to work through any challenges you may be facing or for 1:1 coaching. We have a range of support at the University which Maria can help signpost you towards.

Cake and chat events

We run regular social events for students with care experience and those facing estrangement to come together and meet students from similar backgrounds and find out more about university life.

Peer mentoring

If you would like to talk to a current student before and during the first few months of university, peer mentoring is available for any first year undergraduate. The mentors are current students themselves and can answer any questions that you might have and help you settle into university life. You have the option to indicate a preference for a mentor who shares similar characteristics.

Care Leavers and Estranged Students’ Network

The SU Care Leavers and Estranged Students' Network is run by and for students. To find out more about the network, their events and support on offer or to join this free network please see the SU Groups Webpage. Networks are an exciting way for students to build communities and create change through collective action. They are representative bodies that can lead campaigns, hold forums and organise social events.

For more information about our support for students from a care experience background please contact our team at care-leavers@bristol.ac.uk.

As well as University support, there are several organisations that provide support and information for people with care experience. These include: