Higher Education providers unite to support care-experienced students in West Yorkshire

The 13 institutions have committed to encouraging prospective students to tick the UCAS care-experienced box, where appropriate, in their applications.

This collaborative approach has led to sharing the broader definition of care-experienced, which is more inclusive of the range of care settings students may have experienced.

These include where students will have spent time living with foster carers under local authority care, in residential care, looked after at home under a supervision order, or in kinship care with relatives or friends, either officially or informally without local authority support at any stage of their life.

The initiative is led by Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY), a partnership of 13 providers – hosted by the University of Leeds – working together to reduce long-standing inequalities in access to, success in and progression from HE. GHWY supports its member-funded institutions with their Access and Participation Plan activity, covering collaborative activity to reduce inequalities in HE.

GHWY represents a collaboration of 13 institutions including: Bradford College, The University of Bradford, University Centre Calderdale, The University of Huddersfield, Kirklees College, Leeds Conservatoire, The University of Leeds, Leeds Arts University, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds College of Building, University Centre Leeds, Leeds Trinity University and University Centre Wakefield at Heart of Yorkshire Education Group.

By adopting this wider definition of care experienced, students will be able to receive support from the institution that they have applied to.

This month the campaign to tick the care experienced box when applying for high education is taking place across the thirteen institutions and is endorsed by students who have been through the process.

For further information about support for care-experienced students at Leeds Arts University, please visit our Student Advice and Wellbeing page.