Young carer

[user146539089]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of applying to university as a young carer? My DH has a major physical disability which has caused us a huge amount of disruption to our lives over the years. Sometimes things are fairly normal, other times he’s needed constant care. The DC don’t spend all day every day as carers. They usually do a few things every day to help out, fetching medical equipment, making tea etc. Other times they’ve had to help out more. I know there are organisations we can talk to but I would really like to talk to people who maybe in a similar situation before we say anything to prospective universities.

They wouldn’t get those accommodations, but they should still tick the young carer box in UCAS when applying to Uni because they ARE entitled to the widening access things like contextual offers and bursaries.

The box isn’t an only tick if you will still be a young carer at Uni box. It’s a tick if you ARE CURRENTLY a young carer box.

Then for undergraduate internships, the young carer box is a tick if you are or ever were a young carer for at least x months.

See:
On the form, if you provide unpaid care for another person, just select ‘yes’ from the drop down box in the question that asks if you have any caring responsibilities in the ‘More about me’ section of the application.

You will not have to give any further details at this stage. UCAS advises that the university might contact you to speak more about your caring role. This is to help them think about support you might need and to give your application context, in case your final A Level grades are impacted by your caring role.
www.thecarerscentre.org/ucas-introduces-identification-for-young-carers/

So all you have to do is tick a box and give some details? I thought it wouldn’t be quite as straightforward as that.

That is literally all you have to do. Btw, you can tick the disabled student box AND the young carer box if both apply.

Thanks @Onnabugeisha One of the dc has a spld so that would apply too.

I work at a uni supporting students with additional barriers, including carers. They should definitely disclose and there will be different support at different stages of the process.

Pre entry they could receive a contextual offer, additional consideration and flexibility around any interviews or additional admissions requirements. They might also be able to access additional bespoke support like an extra visit or a named contact.

While at uni they could be eligible for a bursary, prioritised for student ambassador roles or get mitigating circumstances set up in advance - so for example if things got tricky at home they could have extensions ready set up around deadline time. They might also be able to get help with the moving process, if that would be something useful for them.

Each uni will offer different support, so it’s something they should factor into their research

Thanks @Bunnyannesummers Would there be any issue about the variable nature of the care? DH is an amputee and has good days/weeks and bad ones. Would that be looked into?

Not at all - if anything that would be even more of a reason to declare in case a bad period clashes with a high stress point of the degree.

I see. It’s stressful having to explain things to people and as a family that really puts us off doing things like this. We’ll have a think about it. Thank you for your advice.

In terms of explaining things, are their school/college aware of the situation at all?

If so, their referee could explain it in the reference, and this would be considered enough information by many unis, I believe. I believe some have forms that need to be filled out, and the forms are honestly not onerous (I'm not saying it's not stressful, but it's not like I understand applying for PIP to be or similar).

Unis tend to take this sort of information at face value, rather than assuming students are exaggerating or lying. They WANT to help applicants who may be disadvantaged in a lot of cases.

Even if their referee just said "X's dad is an amputee, and X helps out with care at home. The amount of care varies, but at time it has impacted their studies"- my understanding is that unis would then take this into account.

It's not just about getting contextual offers etc- it's also about on results day if they miss their offer, it might get them a place over someone who got the same grades but didn't have any extenuating circumstances.

The college know there is a disabled parent but not the nature of the disability and how it affects our lives.

Yep. My two DS have ASD. One DD has ASD & CFS/ME. And other DD has ASD & severe Dyslexia. I mentioned it because that was a question I had, can a DC be disabled and have a carer, but also be a young carer too? And the answer was yes absolutely.

I’d never thought about that @Onnabugeisha. The dc who has a SpLD has it to a severe level too. It’s so challenging but they are academic when you take into account the subjects which are not affected.

Fwiw, the Unis have never asked for any details or proof regarding my disabled condition.

My DD came down from Scotland last month for four days due to a family emergency and her professors just granted her a 1 week extension without any information beyond “my disabled mum just got out of hospital and my dad needs me to go down for a few days to help out”

The fact she was already listed with the Uni as a young carer made it smooth and easy for her. In my experience, they are not intrusive into your privacy.

My DSs have graduated..,it was the same with them.

My youngest is in YR13 applied this year to Uni, and still no requests for details or proof from any of them.

No worries. The UCAS form and process is daunting when your first DC go through it. I’m happy to share the few things I have learnt.

On the subject of disability, my YR13 DD is the only DC with a physical disability and we have only just discovered that the Unis allocate accommodation to physically disabled students first based on need. Say if you need a bigger bed and an en-suite, and to be closer to dining and classes due to mobility limitations and such -then your accommodation is sorted first. You don’t have to compete for accommodation by the usual process that abled incoming students use.

So it’s important to tick the disabled student box for priority accommodation as well as to apply for the DSA.

This is incredibly helpful @Onnabugeisha

It might be worth making college a bit more aware of the situation regardless? I understand explaining it is difficult, but then staff can be a bit more understanding of any issues and offer academic support if it's ever needed? They wouldn't have to be referred for specific support if they didn't want it?

Yes @Postapocalypticcowgirl but it’s really hard to have to tell strangers really private stuff. I think we need to though.

@user146539089 also following as my DH is also an amputee, it has been a huge change since it happened.

I’m sorry to hear that @Hotpinkangel19. Its a big upheaval.

It really is. We're almost 2 years into it, and still working everything out.

@Hotpinkangel19 i think people assume that it’s just a case of using a prosthetic limb and getting on with a normal life. It isn’t so simple.

Not at all. Sorry you are going through this too.

You won’t necessarily need to explain things. Your DC will tick the box, that’s that. They’ll likely be contacted to see what, if anything they’d like put in place. They can take that conversation no further if they want to, or pick it up at another point. It won’t count against them. And conversations generally don’t require lots of detail about home life unless the student wants to give it. The focus is on the uni experience.

Unis are generally approaching things as what can we put in place to improve an experience rather than provide all the evidence and we’ll think about what you can have, it’s intended to be much more positive.

But to echo PP I would tell school or college. You don’t have to give details but ‘I’m making you aware X is a young carer. They don’t need anything at present but I’ll make you aware of things change’ is enough so that they know and for example don’t harp on because there’s been a missed homework when DC are usually an excellent student - because they know that as a carer, there’s a bloody good reason in all likelihood.