Children in Care and Higher Education

Frank Young, 22 September 2022

Progression to Higher Education

In the year 2020/21, a total of 234,590 pupils under 19 progressed into a Higher Education (HE) institution – only 510 of these pupils had been looked after in care continuously for 12 months or more at 31 March 2017. This means that of all children continuously looked after for 12 months or more at 31 March 2017, only 13 per cent progressed into HE by the age of 19.[1] In comparison, 45 per cent of all other children had progressed into HE in 2020/21 by the time they turned 19. If you compare these figures to those of a decade ago, not much has changed – the number of children not in care who progressed to HE by the age of 19 in 2011 was still over three times that of the number of children in care who progressed (35 per cent versus 10 per cent).

When looking at ‘high tariff’ HE institutions, the 50 providers who require the highest number of UCAS points for entry,[2] children in care are once again only account for a small percentage of pupils entering these institutions. After Travellers of Irish Heritage and young people from a Gypsy/Roma ethnic background, looked after children are the least likely group to attend a high tariff institution. Children looked after for 12 months or more are 60 per cent less likely to go to high tariff institutions than children from the most disadvantaged financial backgrounds, and 40 per cent less likely than children entitled to free school meals.

The progression rate to high tariff HE institutions for children looked after continuously for at least 12 months reached two per cent 2020/21 – the highest figure for over a decade – but was still almost 10 per cent lower than the progression rate for other pupils (11 per cent). 60,270 young people under 19 progressed to a high tariff HE institution in 2020/21, but only 70 – the equivalent of 0.1 per cent – were pupils who had been looked after continuously for at least 12 months. Once again, when comparing these figures to 2010/11, a similar picture remains.[3]

The Pipeline

Post-16 destinations (2018/19):

In 2018/19, the total number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 (GCSEs) who had been looked after at any point in the 12-month period of 2018/19 was 7,170. 5,010 of these young people enter a ‘sustained education destination’[4] following their GCSE year.

A-Levels are the traditional route into a high tariff HE institution, however there is no official data on the number of children looked after who are enrolled on A-Level courses. To attempt to calculate the number of children looked after studying for A-levels, and therefore the theoretical ‘pipeline’ to high tariff institutions, we grouped together the number of children at institutions where students are most likely to be studying A-Level courses and an approximation for further education colleges using existing data. We calculated that there would have been approximately 1,511 children who had been looked after at any point were studying for A-Levels in 2018/19.[5] Therefore, roughly 22 per cent of the total number of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who had been looked after at any point would have been studying for A-Levels, or 30.1 per cent of pupils in a sustained education destination.[6]

Our independent school sector is particularly poor for the number of children looked after taking up sixth form places. Just 40 children who had been looked after at any point attended post-16 independent schools in 2018/19, 0.05 per cent of all independently educated sixth formers.[7]

Using the data above the success rate for children looked after progressing to a high tariff HE institution directly from sixth-form is just 4.2 per cent.

What the Department for Education (DfE) says:

In response to a parliamentary question, the government has recently provided data on the number of care leavers of any age attending high tariff HE institutions. The below table shows a DfE analysis of care leavers at the 31 high tariff HE institutions in England:[8]

Source: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-05-17/hl298

In 2018/19 there were 3,570 care leaver entrants at all HE institutions, but only 435 were at high tariff institutions (12 per cent), a figure that has gone up to 14 per cent in 2020/21.

The DfE also broke down the data by institution to provide a ‘league table’. Four high tariff universities had zero entrants from care backgrounds (University of Bath, SOAS University of London, Loughborough University and University of Oxford). At the other end of the table the University of Leeds had 50, the University of Manchester 40 and the University of Nottingham, the University of Liverpool and the University of Bristol all had an estimated 35 entrants from care backgrounds. In terms of the percentage of entrants estimated to be care leavers, even at the university where care leavers were most represented – the University of Surrey – they only accounted for 0.75 per cent of total entrants.

Source: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-05-17/hl298

The DfE also provided an overview of all care leaver entrants by tariff level:

Source: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-05-17/hl298

This data raises questions about access to higher education for young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, who statistically have some of the worst future prospects.

There are likely to be steps that can be taken to increase the number of care leavers on higher education courses, and in particular, attending high tariff institutions. The recent review into children’s social care made a number of recommendations to support young people from care backgrounds to aspire to higher education. The review, led by Josh McAlister, highlighted the work of charities like First Star Scholars UK.

First Star recruits ‘scholars’ at the beginning of their GCSE year (age 14) to join a four year programme of academic support at a local university. Last year 50% of First Star graduates were accepted onto a university course, compared with a national figure of around 13% for eighteen year olds leaving care. A third of First Star Scholars passed GCSE English and Maths grade 5/C compared to 7% of looked after children nationally (2020). The First Star programme encourages ambition and empowers young people from care backgrounds to believe they belong in higher education, something that is badly needed if we are to see more than 70 teenagers from care backgrounds going to high tariff institutions.

[1] Note: The latest year of data is pupils who were looked after continuously for 12 months or more at 31st March 2017 who progressed to HE by age 19 by 2020/21. The data is presented based on the year the pupil was aged 19 but the looked after status is on 31st March in the academic year when the pupil was aged 15. The Department for Education follow progress from age 15 until age 19.

[2] Note: A high tariff higher education institution is calculated by the DfE by grouping HE providers into low, medium and high tariff providers based on the normalised mean tariff score of their intake. The cohort used for the calculation is UK domiciled full-time first year entrants to undergraduate courses at UK Higher Education Providers who are aged under 21. The providers relate to those providing returns to the HESA Student Record and Alternative Provider Record. The calculation of mean tariff is based on the UCAS tariff points of the cohort, where each individual points score is normalised to reflect the equivalent of the top three A level score achieved by the entrant.

[3] Gov.uk, ‘Widening participation in higher education’, https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/widening-participation-in-higher-education/2020-21#explore-data-and-files

[4] Note: A sustained education destination includes school sixth forms, sixth-form colleges, FE colleges, and other education settings.

[5] Ibid.

[6] See here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-and-skills [In 2018/19 there were 1,813,700 adults (19+) attending a FE institution of which 390,700 (21.5%) were undertaking a level 3 course].

[7] ISC, ‘ISC Census and Annual Report 2020’, https://www.isc.co.uk/media/6686/isc_census_2020_final.pdf p30.

[8] Note: The figures are taken from an answer to a Parliamentary Question submitted by Lord Farmer (HL298). Department analysis of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record showing the number of care leavers who entered courses at English HE providers in each academic year from 2018/19 to 2020/21. Coverage refers to entrants domiciled in England prior to study and care leavers are defined as codes 01 and 04 in the HESA care leaver collection documentation.