Support for Student Carers
Coming to university whilst being a carer can make completing your studies and engaging in university life very challenging. Often it involves juggling studies alongside travelling home and additional caring responsibilities. However, the Advice team are here to offer a range of support to help you manage it all—throughout your time at Exeter, you’re not alone.
Do I qualify?
A carer is someone who provides unpaid care to a partner, child or relative with a physical or mental illness, disability or addiction. This can sometimes mean providing help and support to siblings, other family members or friends.
If you’re a student carer, we would like to see some documentation that confirms your carer status. Please don’t hesitate to contact us on advice@exeterguild.com and we will confirm which documentation we will accept, as this will vary with each caring responsibility.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
If you are a full-time student with children or adult dependants, you may qualify for extra financial support.
Carers Bursary
Undergraduate carers are able to apply for a Carers bursary. This bursary is not fixed and will be dependent on your situation; we deal with financial requests on a case-by-case basis, so please contact the Advice team if you need support. In every case, we will aim to help in the best way we can.
Dependants grants
If you’re a full-time student in higher education and an adult depends on you financially, you can apply to student finance for an Adult Dependants’ Grant of up to:
- £3,190 for the 2021 to 2022 academic year
- £3,094 for the 2020 to 2021 academic year
This would be on top of a student finance maintenance loan and tuition fee loan.
OTHER SUPPORT
Carers coffee mornings
These run throughout term and give you an opportunity to talk with others in a similar situation and gain support from each other. We will be in contact but keen an eye on our ‘what’s on’ section and social media posts for more information.
Parents’ and Carers’ Network
The University of Exeter runs a Parents’ and Carers’ Network which is an informal support system for all staff and postgraduate students. If you would like to get involved, visit Parents and carers network.
Mitigating Circumstances
If you feel like a personal circumstance may affect your ability to complete an assessment, you could be able to apply for an extension or deferral through the University’s ‘Mitigation Process’. For more information about this process and how to apply, visit Applying for mitigation.
Are there any external services available to me?
Yes have a look at Carers UK and Bright futures Devon for more information about how they can help.
Carers UK
Carers UK provides expert advice, information and support to make sure that no matter how complicated your query or your experience, you don’t have to care alone. They also offer benefit checks and advice on financial and practical matters related to caring.
If you would like to find out more and get in touch with the organisation, visit Carers UK.
Carers Week
Bright Futures Devon
Bright Futures offers support to Young Adult Carers (aged 18-24) and their families to get the support, skills, confidence, and help you need to manage periods of transition and change in order to build your resilience and improve future life chances.
For more information, visit Bright Futures
What additional support is available to me?
The University of Exeter’s advisors can help you develop personal learning strategies and discuss specific questions relating to your work. For students studying on the Exeter campuses, you will be eligible for a package of 3 one-to-one appointments. For more information, visit academic skills.
You can also seek help with your studies from the Study Zone Study Zone
I still have more questions, where can I get more support?
If you still have any more concerns, please get in touch with our Advice team at advice@exeterguild.com or go to our Drop in pages for drop-in session times.