UCAS' report, backed by the Carers Trust, highlights how the experience of being a young adult carer influences the courses they want to study. The findings revealed young adult carers are 59% more likely to apply to health and social care courses and 57% more likely to apply to nursing and midwifery courses than applicants without caring responsibilities.
Pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy, medicine and dentistry, and medical sciences are also top subjects for this group compared to their peers.
The report, based on insight from UCAS’ new set of widening participation questions as well as application and survey data, is the first of its kind in the UK to explore the experiences and aspirations of young adult carers in their HE journey.
Last year, 18,915 young adult carers applied to university or college, accounting for 3.9% of all UCAS applicants. The majority of applicants who declared they had caring responsibilities were 18 years old (11,960 applicants).
Other main findings from today’s report include:
- Young adult carers have high hopes of going to university or college, with the majority looking forward to studying a subject they love (78%), becoming more independent (69%) and meeting new people (68%).
- They often struggle with finding the right information about progressing to higher education – with 72% saying that they never or rarely spoke to teaching staff about their caring responsibilities while 71% also never or rarely communicated with support staff.
- Tailored support at university or college for young adult carers is hard to get – just under two thirds (69%) were unaware of the support available to them and of those that were aware, 21% found the information difficult or extremely difficult to find.
- The educational challenges they face may cause additional barriers in accessing higher tariff universities - only 24% are placed at higher tariff institutions compared to 31% of students without caring responsibilities, while 42% of young adult carers are placed at lower tariff institutions compared to 35% of those without caring responsibilities.
- Their decisions about which university or college to go to are influenced by financial considerations and flexibility – 63% said that they took being able to balance their studies with part-time work into account when researching their options.
- Young adult carers are less mobile due to their caring responsibilities – they are 29% more likely than their peers to go to a university or college within a 30 minutes’ drive from home, and 33% more likely to choose to live at home while they study.
In its findings, UCAS has emphasised the significant role of advisers, academic, and support staff in creating a “culture of positive disclosure” which allows young adult carers to make themselves known and receive the support they need to successfully transition to university or college.
UCAS has made several recommendations to help schools to identify young adult carers and increase awareness of targeted support and resources at university or college. These include providing tailored information, advice and guidance for young adult carers on the transition to HE, incorporating young adult carers and their families into specific university and college outreach activities, and assigning a young carers lead to ensure this cohort are well-equipped in their next steps.
Dr Jo Saxton CBE, Chief Executive at UCAS, said: “This UK-wide report is the first of its kind and represents an important milestone in understanding the experiences of young adult carers. I’m encouraged to see nearly 19,000 self-declared young adult carers applying through UCAS last year and I hope this brand-new insight from UCAS will be instrumental in improving the identification and awareness of support for young adult carers exploring higher education.
“I know from my time working in schools just how significant the impact of having caring responsibilities can be for a young person and now, for the first time, this research reveals how these responsibilities also shape the choices young carers make about their future careers. It is crucial that we identify and support these young people to ensure they think broadly and have equal opportunities to succeed in education and beyond."
Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive at Carers Trust, said: “This vital report shows how being a carer can impact every aspect of a young person’s education, from whether they apply for university in the first place to the support they get to balance caring and learning. A lack of identification and understanding of their caring role in schools and colleges is having huge implications for the type of help young carers get in applying for the next stage of their education. There is also clearly work to do in the higher education sector to ensure carers have the best possible experience once they arrive."
Nicole McCartney, Director of Education at Creative Education Trust, who cared for her parents as a child, said: “Whether in primary schools, secondary schools, Further Education or Higher Education, we as educators too often overlook what I believe is a hugely untapped store of skill and ambition when we don’t cater for our young carers. These are generally young people who, through often very difficult circumstances, come to us with advanced leadership, organisational and interpersonal skills. Identifying and nurturing these young people is critical to their success and to the quality of the caring professions, like teaching, they so often choose.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Young adult carers are 59% more likely to apply to health and social care courses (2.3% vs 1.5%) and 57% more likely to apply to nursing and midwifery courses (6.9% vs 4.4%) than applicants without caring responsibilities.
The report is the latest in UCAS’ Next Steps series.
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UCAS
UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, is an independent charity, and the UK's shared admissions service for higher education.
UCAS’ services support young people making post-18 choices, as well as mature learners, by providing information, advice, and guidance to inspire and facilitate educational progression to university, college, or an apprenticeship.
UCAS manages almost three million applications, from around 700,000 people each year, for full-time undergraduate courses at over 380 universities and colleges across the UK.
UCAS also provides a wide range of research, consultancy and advisory services to schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies, and employers, including apprenticeships.
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