Though it is only comparatively recently we’ve started seeing information on care leavers and estranged students in national datasets, the Student Loans Company has provider level information for UK and EU (home fee system) loan applications going back to 2017-18 – and forward to a provisional number for 2024-25.

This is done on a by system (Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales, Student Finance Northern Ireland – viewers in Scotland have their own programmes) basis. While on the face of it the provider level resolution is interesting, the low numbers mean that we run into your traditional rounding issues – any number below five have been redacted, and providers with less than five students in either category in total have seen their numbers added to “others”.

This is, to be clear, the number of students under 25 who have successfully applied for SLC funding as either care leavers or estranged – in both of those cases, the means test for maintenance funding is applied to the student themselves rather than to parents or guardians. You’ll note that students “apply” each year for funding so a three year full time undergraduate will may in three years of this data if they remain estranged.

The numbers for 2024-25, while undeniably exciting, are provisional due to them being published in-year (as of 31 December 2024). Notably, these may not include students who have applied to courses starting later in year, which will explain the lower numbers in the current year.

The visualisation below is fairly straightforward. I’ve just displayed data for Student Finance England – the top chart ranks providers based on in year numbers for 2024-25, if you mouse over a mark in the top you’ll see a full time series in the bottom.

[Full screen]

This is ad hoc data, but as a provider of official statistics SLC should really have included institutional identifiers (UKPRNs) to allow me to filter or display provider groups and regions. You can use the highlighter to find a provider of interest, and will note that although larger post-92 providers tend to have more students in both categories, one of the largest “providers” is actually the “other” agglomeration of smaller providers.

You’ll also spot that both categories of students tend to be in low numbers within a provider – making it harder to plan the additional support (such as, for instance, accommodation support outside of term time: not all students can or do go home for the holidays) that may greatly improve their experience.

However, one thing that will not help is the suggestion that students in these difficult situations seek support from the charity Stand Alone on the application process. Stand Alone sadly closed in 2024.