Care Experienced and Estranged Students
The School offers a wide range of bespoke support for students who have experience of the UK Care System.
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The School is committed to ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel able to apply and take up a place at the School. Students with experience of Local Authority Care and those who are estranged from their families may face particular challenges in progressing to Higher Education, so the School has put in place a range of support to help you navigate the application process and your Higher Education career. This support will continue all the way through to graduation.
overview
The School considers a broader definition of care experience when determining which students should benefit from the bespoke support offered to Care Leavers. This has been developed in consultation with the Care Leavers’ Covenant. Care experienced students will have spent time in the care of a Local Authority or Health and Social Care Trust at some point before their 18th birthday.
This could include:
- Recognised Care Leavers, who are eligible for statutory support from their Local Authority;
- Living with foster parents;
- Living at home with parents/guardians, or in kinship care, under the supervision of social services;
- Living in a residential children’s home;
- Living under the care of the Local Authority, or Health and Social Care Trust, in another residential setting (eg. a secure unit);
- Those who are adopted before the age of 18.
This list is not exhaustive, as we appreciate that some students have unique circumstances. If you believe that you are care experienced, but your personal circumstances are not outlined above, please contact the Access and Participation team on access@gsmd.ac.uk or the Student Services team on student.services@gsmd.ac.uk for further guidance.
Students who join the School without the support of a family network behind them will face additional challenges, and we are dedicated to supporting you in your transition to student life and throughout your time at the School.
To be assessed as eligible for financial support on the basis of estrangement from their parents/guardians, the student should have had no contact with their parents/guardians for at least 12 months, and be unlikely to have a relationship with them again. Please see below for more information about Financial Support and the Access Bursary.
However, if you do not meet these criteria, or do not identify as fully estranged, we can still offer guidance and support to you throughout you time at the School to help you thrive of your course of study and enjoy a positive student experience.
Please contact a member of our Student Services team for a confidential discussion about your circumstances and support needs.
Please feel free to contact these staff at any time.
The Head of Access and Participation, Ashleigh Hope, may be your first point of contact with the School, as Care Leavers and care experienced young people are eligible for the activity delivered by the Access and Participation team, including our Supported Application Scheme. This team also distribute the Access Bursary. Find out more about Access and Participation activity and support or email access@gsmd.ac.uk.
The Senior Student Funding Officer, Megan Lapworth-Maisey, works in the Registry and can help with completing application forms and with any questions you may have about external and internal funding opportunities, including the Access Bursary. Find out more about the funding available to undergraduate students or email studentfundingofficer@gsmd.ac.uk.
The Deputy Head of Student Services (Student Life), Julia Oliver, works in Student Services and can advise students on a range of matters from accommodation and finding a job to social events. Student Services support all students in non-academic matters. Find out more about Student Services Services or email student.services@gsmd.ac.uk.
Confidentiality
If you declare on the application form that you are a Care Leaver or care experienced and subsequently are offered a place then you will need to confirm your eligibility by providing us with a letter from the local authority that looked after you. After this point we will not ask for any other personal information about you or your family.
All information provided by care leavers will be held in the strictest confidence, and only shared when required, though Ashleigh, Megan and Julia will liaise about Care Leavers and care experienced students so that only one disclosure is required.
- Pre-application: Please feel free to email Ashleigh, Megan or Julia at any time. And definitely take a look at our Supported Application Scheme before applying.
- Post application submission: If you have declared that you are a care leaver but have not contacted the above staff then you will be contacted by email with the offer of support
- Audition/Interview day: If you are coming on your own and would like support during any waiting times then the Access and Participation team, Student Funding Officer or Deputy Head of Student Services (Student Life) will try to make themselves available.
- You are offered and accept a place: You will be invited to meet with the Student Funding Officer and the Deputy Head of Student Services (Student Life) to assist you in filling in all the required forms to access funding, scholarship support, and accommodation and generally help you to get things organised. The enrolment requirements will be explained to ensure that you have all the required documents ready in good time for September. You will also be invited to Get Ready for Guildhall.
- Enrolment Week: The first week of term (enrolment week) can be very busy, with academic inductions, tests and other meetings. During enrolment week you will be invited to events to help you settle in and ensure you make the most of your time at the School and the opportunities available to students. If needed the Student Funding Officer or the Deputy Head of Student Services (Student Life) will help you prioritise your timetable during this week to balance the necessary with the ‘extra curricula’ activities provided.
- After enrolment week: The Head of Access and Participation, Student Funding Officer and the Deputy Head of Student Services (Student Life) will be available for regular meetings to address any concerns. Support will be ongoing until you graduate and can be accessed at any time during the calendar year subject to School closure times.
The School offers a range of scholarships for both maintenance and tuition fees in order to try and ensure that no student is prevented from taking up a place at the School because of financial hardship. Applicants and enrolled students who are care experienced will be given special consideration for scholarship support where it is declared on the scholarship form (this does not necessarily guarantee an award). Scholarships have to be applied for on an annual basis.
UK undergraduate students who qualify as Care Leavers or care experienced are also prioritised for an Access Bursary of £5,000, providing they are home-funded and in receipt of a full maintenance from their student funding body.
The Access Bursary is also prioritised for eligible estranged students, with their award set at £3075, and £4100 in the final year of studies. Other student groups are also invited to apply for the Access Bursary, providing they are from a low-income household. . For further information about the Access Bursary please contact the Access and Participation team on access@gsmd.ac.uk.
Sundial Court offers accommodation to Guildhall School students from the start to the end of the academic year.
Find out more about accommodation
Care experienced and estranged students are prioritised for places in Sundial Court if they apply, irrespective of the proximity of their current accommodation to the School, and they are able to apply to live in Sundial for the duration of their course, should they wish to do so.
Rent Guarantor Scheme
For students who choose to live outside of halls, advice and guidance is available from Student Services.
Most landlords, including private accommodation providers that rent properties to students, require a third person to act as a ‘guarantor’ before a tenancy agreement can be completed. A guarantor is a third party who agrees to pay the rent if for any reason you as the tenant cannot.
For care experienced and estranged students, this can present an additional obstacle and limit their options when it comes to choosing where to live.
Guildhall School has therefore developed a Rent Guarantor scheme for students who are care-experienced, estranged from their families, or who are otherwise without any form of parental support, whereby the School will act as their guarantor for privately rented accommodation
The Scheme intends to ensure that these students have the same opportunities and options as their peers when it comes to securing external accommodation. We also
acknowledge that students may become estranged from their families during the course of their studies and that access to a guarantor scheme might be a supportive factor in their decision-making.
The Scheme is available to students who are fully enrolled at the School. Please contact student.services@gsmd.ac.uk for more information.
The School is a signatory of the Care Leavers Covenant. You can find out more about the support that they offer on their website.