At King’s College London we recognise that being estranged can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes. Therefore we provide pre-entry and on-course support to students who have lost family contact and are no longer supported by their families. This support includes additional financial support and advice on accommodation, finances, and academic matters.

If you have been directed to this page after completing the care-based questions as part of your enrolment or re-enrolment, the below has instructions on how you can verify your estranged status with us. You will be required to complete an online form and upload documentation.

If you have already been verified by King's as Estranged, you don't need to complete this task. Please note, this process is only applicable for current King's students.

Our definition of an estranged person is someone who no longer has the support of their parents (often this involves having no verbal or written contact), due to a breakdown in their relationship which has led to ceased contact, and is not set to change in the foreseeable future. This might mean your biological or, if you have been adopted, your adoptive parents – whoever has been responsible for supporting you in the past.

You must be under 25 at the start of the course and assessed as a home fee payer.

Evidence needed

You will be required to submit evidence to show that you meet this status. The below outlines what you will need to complete this process.

Evidence (letter or email) from the independent team at student finance confirming that you have been assessed as an independent student because you're irreconcilably estranged from your parents.

You will also be asked to provide your notification of entitlement letter from student finance. This will help us ensure you are receiving the correct amount of maintenance loan.

If you need more information about applying for student finance as an estranged student, Standalone have produced the following guidance.

Next steps

1. Read this guidance prior to completing the online form
2. Complete this online form.

After you have completed the online form, you will be notified with whether your status has been verified.

If you are unsure about whether you meet the definition for estranged, please contact us to discuss this via advice@kcl.ac.uk, putting 'verification' in the subject header.

King’s College London recognises the challenges faced by estranged students. We offer extensive support before they start at university. 

Pre university events

Long term programmes

The King’s Social Mobility & Widening Participation Department prioritise care-experienced learners on long-term pre-university programmes. To learn more about long-term programmes run by King's Widening Participation department, visit our projects for prospective students webpages.

One-off events

• Campus Tours

King’s is pleased to offer guided campus tours of four of our five campuses. Visit us to find out more about King’s, our world-class teaching and research, outstanding facilities and excellent student experience.

• Open days

We have open days which give students the opportunity to visit the university, find our more about our courses and speak to current students.

Disclosing estrangement can provide context when making admissions decisions but also ensures we provide the right financial, academic, and personal support.  We do not need to know why a student has been estranged or any other detail and we do understand that some students see university as a new start and may be reluctant to let the university know. We would like to reassure students that this information will never be used against them, but we cannot help if we do not know. 

To disclose their estranged status students should do the following if relevant: 

• Say they are estranged from their family on their personal statement 

• Ensure the teacher reference gives additional information and provides context 

• If needed fill in the Mitigating Circumstances form

• Contact us directly at priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk 
  

There are more details on applying to university as an estranged student on the UCAS webpages. 

Additional admissions consideration for estranged applicants

If you are estranged and applying to study at King’s, we strongly advise you to disclose this directly to us. This will allow admissions staff to take your circumstances into consideration and will not have a negative impact on your application. 

We use this data to holistically assess an applicant’s future potential to succeed and to differentiate between similar highly qualified candidates.

As an estranged, you will receive additional consideration. Examples of the ways in which additional consideration is given are described below:

• Students whose predicted grades are marginally lower than that required for the course may be given an offer.

• Students whose application is considered as being close to the standard required to gain an interview may be offered an interview.

• Students whose admissions test score is considered as being close to the required standard might be given an offer or interview.

• Students who narrowly fail to meet their conditional offer will be given additional consideration as to whether their place should be confirmed.

Application support

King's College London has a designated member of staff (pre-entry), who can assist estranged students with all aspects of the application process: you can talk about course choices, receive feedback on a draft personal statement, tips on interviews as well as guidance on King's other support services e.g. student funding or the disability services.

For more information please contact us on priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk.

It is possible to claim independent status with Student Finance due to estrangement from parents, in case you have proof of the following: 

• No written or verbal contact with biological parents in past 12 months before start of academic year 
• The situation is irreconcilable 

In this case, your personal household income will be taken into consideration for the means-tested elements, instead of your parents’ income. 

To do this you will need to submit evidence to support the claim, from an independent person with good standing in the community. This person should normally have known about your situation for a substantial amount of time, and can verify that you don’t have contact with your biological or adoptive parents (for example a letter from a social worker, advice worker, tutor, teacher). Please note that to get the available financial support, you need to agree to get means-tested. More information related to proving independent status due to estrangement.

Starting university is a very exciting time but it can also be a bit overwhelming. King's College London recognises that it can be particularly daunting if you have come from an estranged background or if you have a challenging home situation so we have a lot of support to help you make the move successfully.

Financial Support

King's offers several bursaries which estranged students from the UK are eligible for:

Care-experienced and Estranged Student Bursary

Worth up to £1,000 per year, is available for students who are under 25 when enrolling and are estranged. 

King's Living Bursary

Open to every full-time home first degree student who has been means-tested with a final income assessment of £42,641. The bursary is worth up to £1,600 a 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. To check if you are eligible to apply, please visit our Student Fund web page.

Accommodation Support

52-week accommodation

We appreciate that accommodation is often a concern for many estranged students so we offer 52-week lets (all year round, including summer months) accommodation for all estranged students. You will have to notify residences that you would like to stay for 52 weeks as this is only available in selected halls of residence. For more information on accommodation at King's College London visit the Student Residences homepage.

King's Affordable Accommodation Scheme (KAAS)

Estranged students are also eligible for the King’s Affordable Accommodation Scheme (KAAS) in which accommodation is capped at £169 per week. For more information on KAAS, visit  the rents and affordability page

Academic Support

All students are allocated a Personal Tutor from within their Department or School.  Estranged students also have access to a Senior Tutor who will act as a consistent tutor throughout their time at King's and give further support with academic work if required.

Careers Support

Our Careers & Employability team can help you with getting a part time job, internship and graduate opportunities, as well as gaining employability skills.

Estranged students are eligible to access Careers+ which can provide you with:

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

Sign up on King’s Career Connect.

Personal Support

Advice and Guidance Team

The Advice and Guidance team can help with queries about accommodation and finances. Current students can contact them via advice@kcl.ac.uk

Mental Health

Additionally, the wellbeing team offers Counselling and Mental Health Support for all undergraduate students. Counselling offers a safe, confidential, and supportive space, to help you to explore your problems, share and gain insight into your feelings, thoughts and behaviour. The service is free and confidential

Please read this webpages for more information on mental health support from Togetherall.

Care-experienced and Estranged Student Network

The Society for Care Experienced and Estranged Students (KCL CAR_ES) is a network for care experienced and estranged students focused on creating a safe place for all care experienced and students who identify as estranged. This is a community where these students can feel visible and empowered.

First term at King's

We recognise that the first term is particularly important in transitioning to university study. There are a series of bespoke events and programmes to help navigate this period.

Officially King’s - Bespoke Induction 

We host a social welcoming event at the beginning of September where you will have the opportunity to hear from different Support Services and connect with people from widening participation backgrounds. 

Care-experienced & Estranged Welcome event

We host a welcome event at the start of term where estranged students have the opportunity to meet other estranged students.

If you are verified as estranged by King’s, you will be contacted with your personal invite to these events.

The Buddy Scheme

The Buddy Scheme is organised by the King’s College London Students’ Union to help incoming Widening Participation students form friendships and find communities by matching them up with experienced undergraduates. Buddy Mentors are there to answer their questions and signpost to useful resources. Everyone on the scheme can choose whether or not they’d like to be matched based on shared interests and/or experiences. In built into the scheme are regular virtual events for Buddy Mentors and Mentees to connect with one another and meet others on the scheme.

For more information on the scheme email outreach@kclsu.org

Or visit this webpage to find out more and to sign up.

If you have any further queries at all, please don't hesitate to contact us via email at priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk.