Events

Removing Barriers to Higher Education for Young and Young Adult Carers: Findings, Evidence and Recommendations

Date: 25th March 2026

Location: Online 10.00 - 11.30

Please note this event is for Members only

Because of the high demands of their caring role, fewer than half (46%) of young carers left secondary school in 2025 with five GCSE passes including English and Maths. They were also 25% less likely than their peers without caring responsibilities to achieve this. Furthermore, 75% of young adult carers said their caring role made it difficult to take part in training or education.

As part of our Student Carers' Working Group presentation series, Danny Donnelly from the University of Nottingham explored the evidence, findings and recommendations from the national APPG inquiry into removing barriers to higher education, employment and training for young and young adult carers. While national in scope, it focuses on implications for higher education institutions.

The report identifies personal, practical and systemic barriers affecting access, attendance and progression, highlighting both individual challenges and the need for cultural shifts within institutions and policy change across the sector. In this session Danny encouraged participants to reflect on how these national recommendations can translate into practical institutional change.

Danny Donnelly, The Dean's Health Sciences Intern at the University of Nottingham and Co-Chair of the APPG inquiry into 'Removing Barriers to Higher Education, Employment and Training for Young and Young Adult Carers’

Danny Donnelly has over 16 years of lived caring experience and was Co-Chair of the APPG inquiry into ‘Removing Barriers to Higher Education, Employment and Training for Young and Young Adult Carers’. He is project lead for the University-wide Student Carer Working Group at the University of Nottingham, working with senior leaders to strengthen support for students with caring responsibilities.  His emerging ‘Carer-Aware’ practice spans healthcare and education training, encouraging earlier self-identification and effective support. Danny also leads creative wellbeing and research initiatives for young carers. Nationally, he works with local authorities, commissioners and policymakers, contributing to discussions on carers within higher education and healthcare.