At King’s College London, we recognise that being a young adult carer can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes, and we therefore provide pre-entry support to young adult carers.

A young adult carer is a person aged 24 or under at the point of enrolment who has (or has previously had) significant unpaid caring responsibilities for a family member or close friend with a medical diagnosis of long-term or terminal illness, disability, mental health condition, is elderly or frail, or who struggles with addiction or substance misuse.

This does not apply to childcare or working/volunteering in a care setting.

We describe below how King’s Social Mobility and Widening Participation Department can support young adult carers in their journey to university.

Disclosing your status on UCAS

The first step in disclosing that you are or have been a young adult carer (young carer, if under 18) is through your UCAS application. UCAS have a webpage on carer responsibilities and how to include this in the application.

You should:

• Tick the relevant ‘carer’ box on the UCAS application form
• Include this information in your personal statement
• Ensure the teacher reference gives additional information and provides context

If you have mitigating circumstances, please visit the undergraduate admissions mitigating circumstances guidance webpage, and complete the relevant form.

Eligibility and evidence needed for King’s

As well as your UCAS application, you must meet the following criteria and provide the necessary evidence to be verified on your application to King’s. You will need to upload your evidence to your King's Apply portal or email it to priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk and include your UCAS ID number in the email.

Please include this evidence when you are ready to submit your application to King’s.

You must:

• Tick the box on UCAS to indicate you are a young adult carer
• Be 24 or under at the point of enrolment on your undergraduate programme
• Have applied for an undergraduate programme
• Be assessed as a ‘home fees’ student by the university
• Be eligible for a maintenance loan from Student Finance.

If you meet the eligibility requirements, you will also need to provide us with evidence that you are a young adult carer. This evidence will need to be a letter on headed paper or an email from one of the following who can verify your status:

• A carers’ network (or a scan/clear photo of your carers card)
• Your GP
• Your teacher or tutor (a school designated safeguarding lead will be accepted)
• Your local authority

Please only submit or send one of the above pieces of evidence. If you have any questions, contact priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk.

Widening Participation projects

We welcome young adult carers who attend non-selective state schools to apply to any of our social mobility and widening participation programmes.

Whether you want to have a taste of university life, would like some tips on the application process, or to learn more about the different subjects on offer, then make sure you submit an application. Find out more about eligibility for our Widening Participation programmes on our webpage.

If you have any questions about applying to King’s for undergraduate study (or applying to one of our widening participation activities), we encourage you to email priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk where you can get information and advice about the application process, or help with navigating King’s admissions, support or funding services.

If you don't feel you quite fit the definition of a young adult carer but have caring responsibilities, then please visit Student Services Online where you can find out more about the support on offer.

Financial support

King’s Living Bursary

King's is committed to financially assisting students who need extra funding to complete their studies. Students don’t need to apply for the Bursary and will be contacted automatically providing they meet the eligibility criteria.

To find out eligibility, the amount, and when you’ll receive it along with other details, please visit our funding opportunities catalogue (details will be published here once applications for the year of entry are open).

Support for Young adult carers at King's

Young Adult Carers may encounter some difficulties starting or preparing for university that their peers are less likely to experience. They are likely to be worried about how they will cope once at university, so it’s important to make sure they know as early as possible, where to get support.

What King’s currently offers on-course young adult carers

• Personal Tutor for academic support
• Prioritisation for paid Widening Participation Student Ambassador roles
• You can book an appointment with the Advice & Guidance team for more specialist support e.g., interrupting studies due to caring responsibilities
• Access to King’s counselling service
• KCLSU Family Association provides guidance for young adult carers
• A KEATS discussion board is available for peer support
• The Chaplains are also available across the university for practical and spiritual support

External sources of support

• We recommend looking at the Young Carers Trust's website. They have the most up to date resources and advice on anything from legal support and knowing your rights, through to wellbeing and mental health. 
• The Children's Society website also has lots of useful information and a website specifically for young carers called Include.
• The UCAS website also has information about what support is available to carers in higher education and useful tips for carers who want to go to university.

If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact us at priority-groups@kcl.ac.uk. You can also find out more about our department on our meet the social mobility teams webpage.