Young Carers in Schools

Young Carers in Schools is a free initiative that makes it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers, and awards good practice.

We are working with schools across England and Wales to share good practice and develop relevant, accessible tools and training.

The Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) initiative is run jointly by Carers Trust and The Children's Society.

By taking part in the programme, schools will be able to show they are meeting the needs of this particularly vulnerable pupil group. As many as one in 5 secondary school pupils could be a young carer.

The full Young Carers in School programme

Young carers research

  • 42% of young carers or adult carers ‘always’ or ‘usually’ feel stressed (Carers Trust, 2022).
  • 27% of young carers say that they struggle to balance caring with school or college work (Carers Trust, 2022).
  • 52% said they do ‘not often’ or ‘never’ get help from school or college to balance their work (Carers Trust, 2022).
  • 34% of young carers say their school or college ‘always’ or ‘usually’ understand about them being a young carer – this means around two-thirds of young carers are spending their days in environments where they don’t feel fully understood (Carers Trust, 2022).
  • 40% said they ‘never’ or do ‘not often’ have someone at school to talk to about being a young carer or young adult carer (Carers Trust, 2022).

What you can access through the Young Carers in Schools programme

  • A baseline review enabling you to prioritise what to do next, this tool contains helpful signposts to the programme materials most relevant and useful to you.
  • Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff resource contains essential tools, templates and guidance. With a tool for each step, no school needs to start from scratch.
  • Webinars, videos and case studies – providing unmissable, expert advice from award-winning schools, unpicking hot topics, and highlighting key guidance on how to apply successfully for a Young Carers in Schools Award.
  • Termly eNewsletters – spotlighting key policy developments and new resources, and the very latest programme news.
  • Young Carers in Schools Award – enabling your school to gain recognition from several leading charities for effective practice. See the map showing which schools have been awarded a Young Carers in School Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
  • Education Conference - With The Children’s Society, we brought together schools, carer services and local authorities from across the UK to discuss initiatives for supporting young carers in schools. Watch recordings of the workshops.

The impact of Young Carers in Schools

In our latest research, 94% of schools taking part in the Young Carers in Schools programme had a better understanding of the support required for young carers.

Find out more about the programme’s impact

Further information

For schools in England

For schools in Wales