At King’s College London, we recognise that any time spent in care can have a profound impact on your experience at university. King’s assists undergraduate students with experience of care through a series of supportive measures to facilitate a successful transition into, throughout and beyond their time at university. To access the support provided to care-experienced and care leaver undergraduate students at King's, your care status must be verified by King’s.

The information on this webpage is only applicable for current King's students. If you have been offered a place to study at King’s College London, but have not started your course yet, or you are looking to apply to King’s, please follow pre-entry guidance on our care experienced and care leavers webpage. 

If you have been directed to this page after completing the care and estranged-based questions as part of your enrolment or re-enrolment, this webpage has instructions on how you can verify your care-experienced or care leaver status with us. Visit our verification section on this webpage to check if you are eligible for support and to be verified. You will be required to complete an online form and upload supporting documentation.

If you have already been verified by King's as a care-experience or care leaver student, you don't need to complete the verification task.

Financial Support

• Care-experienced and Estranged Student Bursary – This bursary is £1000 per academic year and is available for care-experienced, care leavers and estranged undergraduate students who have been verified by King’s.
• King’s Living Bursary – Open to every full-time, home, first-degree student, this bursary is awarded on a means-tested household income basis. The bursary is worth up to £1600 per academic year.
• King’s Student Fund - This support is a limited discretionary fund to assist students on low incomes who may need extra financial support for their course and to stay in higher education.

Accommodation Support

• 52-week accommodation contracts – Securing safe, year-round accommodation is often a concern for many students who have been in care. We therefore offer 52-week accommodation contracts. To receive this support, please notify King’s Residences that you would like to stay for 52-weeks. These contracts are only available in specific halls.
• Guaranteed accommodation in a King’s residence for all years of undergraduate study – We offer all care-experienced and care leaver students the option to secure guaranteed accommodation in a King’s residential hall for all years of their undergraduate study. Find out more about our King's accommodation on our residences webpage.
• King’s Affordable Accommodation Scheme (KAAS) – Care-experienced and care leaver students are eligible for the King’s Affordable Accommodation Scheme (KAAS), which caps the price of accommodation provided by King’s to £169 per week.
• Unite Scholarship – Available to care leaver students, King’s has partnered with the Unite Foundation, which affords care leaver students the opportunity to apply for the Unite Scholarship. Being awarded this scholarship allows care leaver students to reside for free in a Unite halls of residence for up to 3 years of study, including the holiday periods.

Pastoral Support

Designated Faculty Wellbeing Advisor – All care-experienced and care leaver students are assigned a designated Faculty Wellbeing Advisor who assists with initial inductions into the university. You can also arrange follow-up appointments, throughout your studies as you need. Your Wellbeing Advisor can also act as your first point of contact if you’re unsure who else to speak with at King’s.

Academic Support

Senior Personal Tutor – All students within King’s are allocated a personal tutor from within their Department or Faculty. Care-experienced and care leaver students also have access to a more experienced Senior Tutor, who will act as a consistent tutor throughout their time at King’s. The Senior Personal Tutor has been provided with additional training to better support the needs of students with experience of care, and can provide further support with academic struggles if required. Your care experience status is not disclosed to your personal tutor without your consent.

Career Support

Careers+ service – Care-experienced and care leaver students are eligible to access the Careers+ service, which provides an enhanced careers support service beyond that offered to all other university students. The Careers+ service provides you with:

• Longer Careers Guidance appointments including via Skype and phone (30 minutes)
• Advance bookings for Careers Guidance appointments (two weeks in advance)
• Exclusive internship opportunities
• Bespoke termly newsletters
• Drop-in sessions with a Careers Consultant
• Exclusive workshops (including online sessions)

Opportunities and wider support

• Bespoke Newsletter – Each month, care-experienced and care leaver students receive a bespoke newsletter, which contains a comprehensive list of internal and external opportunities and events that they are prioritised for, and practical information needed to support their academic, professional and personal development.
• Bespoke Inductions Into King’s – We host two events for care-experienced and care-leaver students to assist with their transition into university.

- Officially King’s: a welcome event in September, where you will have the opportunity to hear from the different services and teams across King’s about the support that will be available to you throughout your time at King’s.

- Care-experienced and Estranged Welcome Event: During the first term, first-year care-experienced, care leaver and estranged students are invited to a social event which affords you the opportunity to connect with students from a similar background.

• Bespoke Monthly Events – We believe that a sense of community is crucial for care-experienced and care leaver students' wellbeing and academic success. We organize exclusive, tailored monthly events that bring together students with shared experiences, that help create a supportive environment where they can connect and thrive.
• Broadening Horizons Bursary (up to £900) – Care-experienced and care leaver students are prioritised for the Broadening Horizons Bursary, which aims to increase the number of care-experienced and care leaver students who can access global mobility (study abroad) opportunities.
• Graduation Support Package - We understand that attending graduation is a significant milestone for care-experienced and care leaver students. We offer a complimentary graduation support package that removes any financial barriers to attend this celebration, including free gown hire, free guest tickets, and a free photography package.
• Care-experienced and Estranged Student Network – KCL CAR.ES is a network for care-experienced, care-leaver and estranged students focused on creating a safe and supportive community that feels visible and empowered, whilst facilitating the building of connections with students from similar backgrounds through the facilitation of events.
• The Buddy Scheme - The Buddy Scheme is organised by the King’s College London Students’ Union to help incoming first-year care-experienced and care leaver students form friendships and find communities by matching them up with current undergraduates students in their 2^nd year or above. Buddy Mentors are there to answer their Mentees questions and signpost to useful resources.

On-course verification opens 4th September 2023 and closes 28th June 2024.

If you have started your undergraduate course at King’s, and wish to get your care-experienced or care leaver status verified to access the support package outlined on this webpage, please complete the following steps:

Step 1: Check that you meet our definition of care-experienced or care leaver

Care-experienced definition: 

Our definition of care-experienced is anyone who, at any stage in their life, for any length of time (no matter how short a time period):

• Has been in local authority care, or
• Is currently in local authority care, or
• Is from a looked-after background, including adopted children who were previously looked-after. This could be looked after in the UK or Overseas

Individuals would also need to meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

• Be under 25 at the start of your undergraduate course,
• Be assessed as a home fee payer,
• Have lived in public care or as a look-after child, including with foster carers under local authority care, in a residential children’s home, or have been adopted after being in care.

Please note: Living in public care does not mean time spent in boarding schools, working in a care or healthcare setting, being admitted or detained in a healthcare setting under the mental health act, or being a carer yourself.

Care leaver definition:

The term care leaver refers to anyone who has been in care or from a looked-after background, for:

• At least 13 weeks since the age of 14, and
• In care on your 16th birthday.

Individuals would also need to meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

• Be under 25 at the start of your course,
• Be assessed as a home fee payer,
• Have lived in public care or as a looked-after child, including with foster carers under local authority care or in a residential children’s home.

Please note: If you are unsure whether you meet the criteria to be verified as care-experienced or as a care leaver at King’s, please contact the King’s Advice Team (advice@kcl.ac.uk) for a consultation meeting, where they can discuss and advise on your circumstances.

Step 2: Collect your supporting documentation for submission

To complete the verification form, you will be required to submit supporting documentation to King’s to show that you meet King’s definition of care-experienced or care leaver. You need to submit two documents.

a) A letter confirming your care leaver or care-experienced status

If you are a care leaver, you should ask your Personal Advisor or Social Worker to confirm that you are a statutory care leaver. This letter would have to be on headed paper including details about the support they will provide for you whilst you are at university. If you do not have a Personal Advisor or Social Worker, you can contact the Duty Social Worker within the local authority where you spent time in care.

If you are care-experienced, you need to provide a letter on headed paper from the local authority where you spent time in care which confirms this. If you do not have this letter already, you should contact the Duty Social Worker within the local authority where you spent time in care.

b) Your notification of entitlement letter from student finance.

This will help us ensure that you are receiving the correct amount of maintenance loan. If you are unsure what this letter is, please see our example Student Finance England notification of entitlement award letter (pdf).

Please note: If you are experiencing difficulties obtaining the required supporting documentation, please consult the verification guidance information on this webpage.

Step 3: Submit the form

Once you have followed steps 1 and 2, please complete the verification form for care-experienced and estranged students 2023/24.

Please note: This form is for students currently enrolled at King’s. If you have not enrolled yet to King’s, please visit the pre-entry care-experienced and care leaver page.

For full guidance about the verification process, please consult the verification guidance section further down this webpage. 

Step 4: Verification outcome

Once you have submitted the verification form, we will contact you via your King’s email address to inform you of the outcome of the verification process within 2 weeks.

The guidance below is intended to help you complete the verification for care-experienced students. It outlines what each section of the form is and details how you can obtain the required supporting documentation.

You can access the King's verification form for care-experienced and estranged students on our online form.

A reminder that on-course verification opens 4th September 2023 and closes 28th June 2024.

Section 1: Personal Details

In this section you will be asked:

• First Name
• Surname
•  Your King’s student ID number
• Your King’s email address
• Your preferred contact telephone number
• Name of your undergraduate course
• Name of your faculty
• Your age when you started your course at King’s
• What year of study you are in
• How many years of study you have remaining. 

Section 2: Background

In this section you will be asked:

• Whether you are a care leaver, care-experienced or estranged.
• To provide supporting documentation of your care leaver or care-experienced status, or for an explanation of why you are not able to provide this.
• Whether you have applied for student funding, and to upload your notification of entitlement award letter from Student Finance for the current academic year.

The information below should help you in answering these question:

Obtaining the supporting documentation

It is really important that you obtain supporting documentation where possible that shows you are care-experienced or a care leaver. This helps to ensure we give support to the right people.

Obtaining supporting documentation as a Care Leaver

If you are a care leaver, you should ask your Personal Advisor or Social Worker to confirm that you are a statutory care leaver. Ask them to provide you with a letter on headed paper including details about the support they will provide for you while you are at university. If you do not have a personal adviser or social worker, you can contact the Duty Social Worker within the local authority where you spent time in care.

Obtaining supporting documentation if you are Care-Experienced

You need to provide a letter on headed paper from the local authority where you spent time in care. This letter needs to confirm that you have spent time in care. If you do not have this letter already, you should contact the Duty Social Worker within the local authority where you spent time in care.

Difficulties in obtaining this documentation:

If you struggle to obtain the necessary supporting documentation, you can answer ‘no’ to the question, ‘Can you supply evidence that you are a care leaver, care-experienced or estranged.’

You should only answer no to this question after you have attempted to gather supporting documentation from the local authority.

You will then be asked to explain why you cannot provide the documentation. Please give as full an answer as possible, explaining the steps you have taken to obtain this. If you are unsure, contact the King’s Advice team (advice@kcl.ac.uk) for consultation on whether you would meet the criteria to be verified as care-experienced or as a care leaver.

What if I am both Care-Experienced and Estranged?

If you are both care-experienced and estranged, you can select either of these on the form as the support you receive will be the same. Selecting estranged may be easier for you if you have already been assessed as estranged by student finance. Read about the evidence you would need to provide to be verified as estranged on our estranged students webpage.

What is the Student Finance Notification of Entitlement Award Letter?

You will be asked to provide your Student Finance Notification of Entitlement Award letter. This information is usually sent to you in the post. If you no longer have a copy of the document, you can access a copy of this letter on your online Student Finance account under the tab letter and emails. See an example of the Student Finance England notification of entitlement award letter (pdf).

Section 3: Data Sharing

In this section, you will be asked:

• If you agree to a data sharing agreement.

It is important that you read this in detail to ensure you understand how data will be shared across the university. If you do not agree, we will be unable to verify your status as care experienced or a care leaver. Find out more on our priority groups data collection statement webpage.

Section 4: Next Steps

In this section, you are provided with:

• Links, which outline the support you are entitled to if verified as care-experienced, or as a care leaver student

Please read this page thoroughly so you understand how King’s can support you through your studies.

Form Submission

You then need to submit your form.

We will contact you to inform you of the outcome of the verification process. You can normally expect to hear the outcome within two weeks of your form submission.

If you have any questions about completing this form, please contact us on cees_verification@kcl.ac.uk.

If you are unsure if you meet the definition of care-experienced or care leaver, contact the King’s Advice and Guidance team (advice@kcl.ac.uk) for consultation and support. 

Below you'll find a list of useful external links where you can find more information about support and advice for care-experienced and care leaver students:

• Unite Foundation, This Is Us Community: The foundation provides a platform for care-experienced and estranged students in Higher Education to connect with each other and join a social network with other people from similar backgrounds.
• EaCES (Estranged and Care Estranged Students): A resource space that signposts to higher education support and guidance in an accessible way to care experienced, care leavers and estranged students.
• Become (former The Who Cares Trust): This charity provides help, support and advice to children in care and young care leavers.
• The Catch 22 National Care Advisory Service (NCAS): delivers holistic support to looked after children and care leavers through their nationwide network.
• The Rees Foundation: this charity supports young people and adults with foster care and residential care experience, they provide mentoring and a network for people with care background.
• NNECL (National Network for Education of Care Leavers): provides Higher Education activities and resources for care leavers, children in care and those who support them.
• Drive Forward: Drive Forward is a charitable organisation that provides employability support to young adults with experience of care.
• Care Leaver Covenant: is a national inclusion programme that supports care leavers aged 16 to 25 through meaningful opportunities in five key areas: independent living, education employment and training, safety and security, mental and physical health, and finance.