When a young person enters the care system this is inevitably as a result of family breakdown in some form; perhaps in response to a family crisis, a bereavement or as the result of serious neglect or abuse. Whatever the reason the young person is in need of additional care and support but far too often this is not available. National policy is out of date, provision is patchy and mental health services are stretched. The impact on young people's education and employment is significant making them three times more likely to become NEET (not in Education Employment or Training) than their peers. Those that do progress through school and college to higher education do so without the parental support that most students enjoy. This NERUPI online event will provide an opportunity to find out more about care experienced young people in higher education and how HEIs can support their access, success and progression.
Professor Neil Harrison, University of Exeter, will open this event by exploring the patterns of higher education participation among care-experienced students using linked school and university administrative records. His research revealed that participation rates in some geographical areas are around four times higher than in others.
Kate Brown from the Unite Foundation will share their Blueprint for a #HomeAtUniversity, a framework to support universities in building a safe and stable home for care experienced and estranged students, improving retention and attainment outcomes.
The event will include practice examples from NERUPI members who will share their provision for Care Experienced Students along with their approaches to evaluating impact.
In this session Neil will explore the patterns in higher education participation among care-experienced students between 2007/08 and 2021/22, using linked school and university administrative records. In particular, it will focus on new analysis at the local authority level that reveals that participation rates in some geographical areas are around four times higher than in others. The findings from this study will be useful to practitioners and policymakers in identifying ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ spots and provide insight into contextual geospatial factors, offering the opportunity for future qualitative study of effective practices or localised structural barriers to participation
Neil Harrison is a Professor of Education and Social Justice at the University of Exeter. He has worked with care-experienced students for over 20 years, initially as a practitioner and more recently as a researcher. His research has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation, KPMG Foundation, British Academy and others. He has had input into national policy development through the Department for Education, Office for Students, Ofsted and the Higher Education Statistics Agency, and has been a trustee of National Network for the Education of Care Leavers since 2019.
Kate Brown from the Unite Foundation will share their Blueprint for a #HomeAtUniversity, a framework to support universities in building a safe and stable home for care experienced and estranged students, improving retention and attainment outcomes. This session will introduce the Blueprint, the support available from the Unite Foundation, and examples of work happening within universities that is improving outcomes for care experienced and estranged studentsKate Brown is co-Director of the Unite Foundation, where she works alongside co-Director Fiona Ellison, the Board and sector leaders to drive towards a safe and stable home at university for all care experienced and estranged students. Kate is a trained and experienced Citizenship teacher, and has led small charities for over a decade, all with the power of education, community and belonging at their heart.
Click here to see if your organisation is already a member. If so you can benefit immediately - fill out the form below to get access.
Benefits of membership:
Free attendance at expert workshops combining presentations on key issues for widening participation with practical sessions focussed on developing members’ own evaluation resources
Access to resources and tools from the members' only section of the NERUPI website including presentations from past events, member case studies and a range of academic articles
A Framework that supports you in meeting the evaluation 'self-assessment' requirements of UK regulators from strategic planning through programme and evaluation design and implementation to informing practice through learning and reflection
Engagement in working groups to develop members’ expertise and capacity in evaluation approaches and methods
A community of practice in WP evaluation and opportunities for collaborative projects
Participation in the annual NERUPI Convention providing opportunities for members to present their findings, develop the Framework and keep up to date with national developments.
The Memorandum of Understanding can be downloaded here and further legal information, including our privacy policy is here.
For more about NERUPI, membership or any of our events please contact us at nerupi@bath.ac.uk.
