Definitions

Many of us are stretched across these definitions and don't necessarily fit neatly into the definite boxes that Student Finance and Universities like to group us into. For example, amongst us are estranged students with young children, care leavers who are also estranged from their families and care experienced mature (over 25) students who have no living parents - to highlight but a few.  Our existence is intersectional. 

The definitions we give below or those held by Student Finance, UCAS and Higher Education sector and so will determine how and what kind of Student Finance and support you can apply for. 

Although here's a Fun fact: 1 in 5 Estranged Students are also care experienced (Stand Alone)

A quick A-Z

Care Experienced Student:

‘Care-experienced’ refers to anyone who has been or is currently in care or from a looked after background at any stage of their life, no matter how short, including adopted children who were previously looked after. Care may have been provided in one of many different settings, such as in residential care, foster care, kinship care or through being looked after at home with a supervision requirement. 

Care Leaver:

A care leaver is a young person who has been in the care of, or has been given accommodation by, their local authority (LA) for a period of at least 13 weeks before the age of 16. They must also not have reconciled with their parents between leaving care and starting their course. They will be assessed as independent students. This means that their parents’ household income will not be taken into account when applying for SFE. Care Leavers may also be refugee students.

EaCES: This is an acronym for 'Estranged and Care Experienced Students'

Estranged Student: 

In higher education, the term ‘estranged’ applies to students who are aged 18 to 24 and are not communicating with either of their parents. This can be both birth parents or both adoptive parents. This can also be because one parent has passed away and the student has has no communication with their remaining parent. Estranged people can also be refugee students and asylum seekers.

Independent Student: 

You'll be classed as independent if:

Kinship Care:

Kinship care refers to the care of children by relatives or, in some jurisdictions, close family friends (often referred to as fictive kin). Students who have been looked after by family members or legal guardians (without the involvement of their LA), have a residency order, or have been given accommodation or supported housing by a charity will not be classed as care leavers. These students may be able to apply as an independent student in other ways, for example, by showing they are estranged from their parents. 

The majority of kinship care arrangements are informal (i.e. the child is not considered ‘in care’) and students from these backgrounds may not meet a provider’s definition of a care leaver due to the lack of local authority recognition (although this is recognised as care experience in Scotland), so it these students tends to be included within any estranged student policy and support package.  

Refugee Student:

A Refugee Student is someone who is a refugee and who is applying to, or part of, an academic institution. Refugees are defined and protected in international law. The 1951 Refugee Convention is a key legal document and defines a refugee as: “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”