Every care experienced person applying to university should tick the box

Find out more about Tick the Box

Hi, I’m Ceira! I’m a care leaver and a first-year student social worker at Solent University Southampton. 

My dream job would be to work within child protection, including looked after children. I feel that child protection is often policy heavy and undervalued, and so lived experience is vital in improving the quality of care we provide to our children – however, as a care leaver, I found it hard to believe that I was capable of a career that requires a degree level education.  

The application process 

I found the application process so daunting. I almost felt embarrassed to be applying. Education hadn’t been easy for me, I’d retaken years, found a different route, and I was worried that my application didn’t reflect me, but instead somebody that was just going to ‘fail’.  

Throughout my UCAS application I was unsure whether I was going to disclose my care leaver status by ticking the box. I was worried it would lead to discrimination, stereotyping, and rejection prior to the interview. Nevertheless, I ticked the ‘I’m a care leaver’ box.  

72 hours after my UCAS application was sent, I had offers to interview from all the universities I had applied to. My interviewers were thoughtful, considerate, and sensitive in the way that they asked me questions. They asked how they could help me on the course, if I had any trauma triggers they could accommodate for and told me they were there to get me through. 24 hours after each interview, I received offers from all three universities. All of the offers I received were contextual, this means that they lowered their grade requirements for me, based on being a care leaver, which made higher education more accessible for me – they recognised that this gave me a more equal chance to my peers. 

Things went wrong for me, and I was nowhere near my requirements, but my university still wanted to give me a chance at higher education. They weren’t giving up on me and so made me an unconditional offer for a foundation course at the university.  

The support I received

Having ticked the box when I applied, I was automatically considered for the care leavers bursary. This ended up being £1500 per academic year, that I didn’t have to pay back. This helped with things other people’s parents would be paying for. I could afford to get home at weekends. I could afford to socialise with my friends. I could afford a new coat.  

I was also introduced to the care leavers key contact and had a mental health advisor allocated to me in my first week. They helped me to make education more bearable; extensions for assignments when my life got in the way, somebody understanding to talk to in the new city I was living in, and someone that could put in place the provisions that I needed in order to succeed.  

Why you should tick the box! 

I believe that every care experienced person applying to university should tick the box. We’re all just trying to succeed in a world that expects us to fail; and I absolutely would have, had it not been for the support my university gave me when I needed it most.  

I left my foundation year with all A and B grades, and I no longer feel embarrassed for being a care leaver attempting education. This September I begin Year 1, BA(Hons) Social Work, and I believe that every other care experienced person can succeed too, with the right support.