Good Practice

Supporting Higher Education Students with Caring Responsibilities

Resource title: Supporting Students with Caring Responsibilities Ideas and Practice for Universities to Help Student Carers
Published: 2015    Author: Carers Trust

This resource enables universities and services supporting young adult carers to gain insight into the challenges this group of students face and find practical tips, guidance and case studies to help staff establish and embed support for student carers.

Key points

  • Draws together some of the good practice universities have already begun to develop.
  • Makes practical recommendations for how universities can support students across the student life cycle.

Supporting Students with Caring Responsibilities will increase awareness of student carers and their specific needs, and aims to support universities to address the challenges student carers face. It draws together some of the good practice universities have already begun to develop and makes recommendations for how universities can support students across the student life cycle. This includes widening participation, applications, admissions and student support while a student carer is at university.

This resource focuses specifically on young adult carers, however, many of the issues experienced by mature students who are carers will be similar. When developing approaches for supporting young adult carers, universities might also like to consider carers of all ages – both students and staff.

It is hoped that this resource will further drive the momentum for acknowledging and supporting this student group within universities. We hope that it will inspire and assist universities to develop their own approaches and that the good practice already taking place will become more consistent across higher education. This will ensure that students who are caring for others – who in many instances have overcome very difficult circumstances and who will have acquired extremely valuable skills – are able to reach their potential and succeed.

We have three versions of this resource:

  • Supporting Students with Caring Responsibilities Ideas and Practice for Universities to Help Student Carers (England version).
  •  Supporting Students with Caring Responsibilities: Ideas and Practice for Universities to Help Student Carers Access and Succeed in Higher Education (Wales version).
  • Supporting Students with Caring Responsibilities: Ideas and Practice for Universities to Help Student Carers Access and Succeed in Higher Education (Wales version) (Welsh language version).