Widening participation in higher education has been one of the sector’s proudest achievements over the past two decades.
Outreach programmes, scholarships and tailored support have opened doors for students from underrepresented groups, lower-income backgrounds and for care experienced students. While the path to postgraduate study should be a lifeline, too often universities themselves have left the door locked.
For care leavers who reach university, the journey is already remarkable. Many arrive as independent students, without the safety net of family support, and face financial, emotional and practical barriers their peers rarely encounter.
Some universities have made important progress at the undergraduate level. For example, the University of Birmingham offers the Enhanced Chamberlain Award. This provides either £3,000 or a £9,610 accommodation fee waiver. But when students aspire to progress to postgraduate taught (PGT) or postgraduate research (PGR) study, the support largely disappears past undergraduate study.
The sector needs to consider comprehensive postgraduate care leaver support if it wants to remain committed to widening participation.
The data day picture
Data on care leavers in postgraduate study is sparse. The Higher Education Statistics Agency and several education charities collect data at undergraduate level, but there is no consistent, sector-wide monitoring of care experienced students once they progress.
Undergraduate figures offer a stark picture. According to government widening participation data for 2023/24, only 13 per cent of care leavers progressed into higher education, compared with 46 per cent of their peers.
Within high-tariff universities such as the Russell Group, just two per cent of care leavers entered higher education. Given these stark inequalities at undergraduate level, universities should focus their widening participation efforts but this view underestimates how systemic and cumulative the barriers are.
Unless widening participation projects continue into postgraduate study, the progress made at undergraduate level risks being undermined.
Where’s the rest?
Funding is the most visible barrier. For home students in England, the postgraduate loan rarely covers the cost of the programme, let alone living costs. And whilst some postgraduate scholarships exist, they rarely meet the full range of costs that care experienced students face.
Where students from more affluent backgrounds can often draw on family support to bridge these gaps, care leavers face the full financial risk alone. The degree awarding gap further compounds this challenge. When scholarships are allocated solely on academic merit, care experienced students may be excluded despite their potential.
The consequences of this gap go far beyond access to qualifications. They affect social mobility, equity and the diversity of the academic and professional pipeline.
In today’s labour market, postgraduate qualifications are increasingly required to secure roles that once were open to graduates. Careers in research, law, social work, academia and policy now demand advanced degrees. Care leavers are underrepresented in precisely these fields, where their perspectives could have the greatest impact. When universities fail to support them into these spaces, they not only restrict individual opportunity but also impoverish the intellectual and social capital of the sector and the nation.
Find the connections
Financial pressures are acute, but not the only barrier. Many care experienced students lack the networks of social and cultural capital that help peers navigate postgraduate applications. At undergraduate level, some benefit from designated staff or structured support networks, but these usually end at graduation. Students are then left to manage complex applications, funding and institutional cultures alone.
Accommodation is another overlooked challenge. Undergraduate care leavers often benefit from guaranteed halls or charity support, such as the Unite Foundation scholarship. But at postgraduate level, these schemes rarely exist.
Many postgraduate programmes require relocation or long periods of research placements. Without guarantors, or with insecure housing and hidden costs, many care leavers are deterred from continuing study.
There’s also emotional and psychological pressures. Postgraduate study requires resilience, but without robust support networks, attrition rates may rise. Universities cannot remove every challenge, but without targeted interventions they risk losing some of their most determined students just as they reach the stage where their contributions could make the greatest difference.
An agenda for widening participation
Widening participation must include postgraduates. The perspectives that care experienced students bring – grounded in resilience, insight and unique life experiences – enrich the academic environment itself.
There are practical steps universities can take. They should:
- Collect and monitor data on care experienced postgraduate students so that gaps can be identified and progress tracked
- Provide dedicated financial support in the form of scholarships, bursaries and fee waivers. These should not be restricted to academic merit or undergraduate study alone, in recognition of the structural barriers reflected in the awarding gap
- Extend support networks beyond undergraduate study, with designated staff at postgraduate level – for example, senior tutors who can guide students through applications, research opportunities and professional development
- Establish mentorship schemes pairing care leavers with academics, to build confidence and foster long-term engagement
- Advocate to the Office for Students and UK Research and Innovation to ensure that care experienced students are explicitly included in developing postgraduate widening participation and funding strategies.
None of these steps require radical restructuring. They require commitment, resource allocation and recognition of the moral duty universities hold. It’s often about extending their existing support from undergraduates to care experienced students at all levels of study.
Universities cannot pride themselves on being engines of social mobility if they close the door to care experienced students after undergraduate study. The responsibility to end this inequity rests with the sector itself.
It is time for universities to act. Postgraduate education should be an attainable goal for all students, not a privilege reserved for those with family support or financial security. Widening participation must mean all levels and for care leavers that journey must continue well beyond the first degree.
