Summary:

Government figures show that 6% of 19-21-year-olds who experienced care growing up go on to university. We’ve been stuck at about 6% for more than ten years. This is a pledge to double that figure by 2024.

Changing lives is what the university sector does best, and we want to do everything we can to extend that opportunity to young people who have grown up in care. Young people from care backgrounds leaving education have some of the worst outcomes of any group, and we want to do what we can to help young people stay in education and get into university.

A care leaver is more likely to end up in a prison cell than a lecture theatre, and we want to change that. We should have aspirations for our young people in our care – the same aspirations we have for our own children. We believe anyone who has experienced care as a young person should have the chance to access university and benefit from the opportunities that come with it.

We’re backing the 12 by 24 pledge to double the number of 19-21-year-old care leavers going to university from 6% to 12% by 2024.

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