We’re committed to ensuring that care-experienced students can succeed at the University of Bristol. We want you to feel safe, supported, and able to reach your potential. Therefore, we provide support and guidance from application through to graduation.
Defining Care Experience
At the University of Bristol, we have a range of support available for students with care experience, but some support may differ based on whether a student is classified as a ‘care leaver’ or ‘care experienced’.
Our definitions are;
‘Care Experienced’ - Students who have spent 3 months or more in formalised* local authority care (at any age).
‘Care Leavers’ - Students have been in local authority care for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and are still in this care on their 16th birthday.
*Students who have spent time being cared for by a relative or friend without a formal arrangement, such as a Special Guardianship Order, are classified as having been in ‘Kinship Care’. At the University of Bristol, informal kinship care does not fit our definition of ‘Care Experienced’; however, it might fall into the category of ‘Estrangement’.
We provide a named contact to support you at the application stage, as well as during your time studying with us.
If you have any questions about your application to Bristol or about the support available to you as a care experienced student, you can visit the webpages for Care leavers and Estranged students.
