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Students Tick The Box

Tick the Box 2025

17 - 23 November, #TickTheBox campaign urges care-experienced students to tick the UCAS box to access extra support and help them thrive in higher education.
Register for webinar

This year, our #TickTheBox campaign runs from 17 - 23 November and encourages people with care experience to tick the box on their UCAS application to say they have spent time in care when they are applying for further and higher education.

This will ensure they get all the support they may need to enter and thrive at college or university.

The campaign works with people with care experience, UCAS, National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL), universities and colleges across the UK to raise awareness on the benefits for young people when they #TicktheBox.   

Sign up to #TickTheBox 2025 webinar

Join our webinar on 18 November 11:00 - 13:00 to hear from a range of expert panelists exploring the UCAS application process, the support offered from organisations working with care experienced young people as well as universities themselves and much more. 

Register
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Why is there a campaign? 

Closing gaps

People with care experience remain underrepresented in further and higher education, and many aren’t aware of the support available to them. We’re determined to change that by ensuring every care-experienced applicant has the information and encouragement they need to take their next steps in learning.

Raising awareness

The #TickTheBox campaign shines a light on why it’s so important for people with care experience to tick the box on their UCAS application. Doing so lets universities and colleges know they’re entitled to additional support, both before they start and throughout their studies.

From 2008-2022, the number of people ticking the box more than doubled, according to a report by UCAS and Unite Foundation – but there is still a long way to go. 

Myth busting

We’re tackling common myths and easing concerns about what happens when someone ticks the box. The information is only shared with the right people, those who can provide the support and understanding care-experienced students deserve.

Inspiring futures

The campaign also aims to raise aspirations by sharing real stories from care-experienced students who’ve gone on to thrive in higher education. Their journeys show what’s possible and how ticking the box helped open doors to new opportunities.

Celebrating support

We’re also celebrating the great work already happening in colleges and universities across the UK. By highlighting best practice, we encourage every institution to provide the excellent support care-experienced students need to succeed and belong.

What support is available? 

The support on offer will be different at every college and university, and can range from additional financial support, in the form of a bursary, to practical support to help care leavers settle in, find accommodation or manage finances. You can find out what support you can access at each institution on Become’s Propel website. 

Some universities will take care-experience into account when making an offer. This is called a contextualised or adjusted offer, and is often a grade or two lower than a standard offer. Each university has a different applications process, which they will explain on their website. 

Colleges and universities will treat the information about care-experience as confidential and will not label or negatively discriminate against a student because they have been looked-after. 

For foster carers  

For young people   

How to get involved

Help spread the word by raising awareness on social media. Use the hashtag #TickTheBox and share our campaign assets below, or post your own inspiring story. Whether you’re a young person, foster carer, or part of a university or college community, your voice can help others access the support they deserve. Don't forget to tag us on social media too! 

If you’d like to share your story on our platforms, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us at [email protected].

 

Download campaign assets

And share on social media with the copy:

Every young person deserves the chance to thrive in higher education. If you’ve spent time in care, make sure you #TickTheBox on your UCAS application, it helps universities and colleges give you the support you’re entitled to. 💙

Learn more at: tinyurl.com/tickthebox25

Social media tiles

#TickTheBox Social Media Tile 1

#TickTheBox Social Media Tile 2

#TickTheBox Social Media Tile 3

#TickTheBox Social Media Tile 4

#TickTheBox Social Media Tile 5

Social media stories

#TickTheBox Social Media Story 1

#TickTheBox Social Media Story 2

Social media headers

Facebook 

Twitter / X

LinkedIn

#TickTheBox FAQs

Useful links highlighted in the webinar

  • Propel - a website made by Become, listing all the support available at higher education institutions for students with care experience.
  • Care Leaver Local Offer - allows people with care experience to compare different local authorities to discover how they support care leavers and encourage councils to improve support in multiple areas.
  • Student Finance Resources - up to date advice for UK Care Leavers hosted on NNECL's website.
  • 'How to’ guide - Student Finance England
  • NNECL's quality mark - list of institutions with the quality mark
  • This is Us - Unite Foundation scholarship and This is Us Community group for people with care experience
  • UCAS support - Advice on supporting care experienced students through the UCAS application process. 

Are there any organisations supporting care experienced people through apprenticeship schemes?

  • Care Leavers Covenant have created a webpage with over 2000 opportunities across the UK covering employment, training and holistic support alongside free tickets and discounts for people with care experience.
  • Civil Service Care Leavers Internship Scheme gives care leavers the chance to benefit from a 12-month paid internship in a central Government department/agency, with the possibility of the post being made permanent at the end of the 12 months. 

What happens if a young person in care doesn't have a passport? Does this mean they can't apply to student finance?

  • You can apply to student finance with a birth certificate, which will be accepted.
  • You can ask your social worker or personal advisor to get a copy for you.   

Do PGCE programmes have a care experienced tick box?

  • Nicola from UCAS explained: any teacher training applications via UCAS in Wales and Scotland do allow students to share if they are care experienced as with the undergraduate application. However, those in England now apply via the Department for Education website instead of UCAS. 

Are SAAS payments only available if you live in Scotland?

  • The eligibility for SAAS payments are: 
  • The Care Experienced Students Bursary (CESB) is available to eligible full-time students taking an undergraduate course. 
  • You may be eligible to claim the CESB if you’ve ever been looked after by a Local Authority in the UK, before you turned 18. 

Previous #TickTheBox events 

#TicktheBox Webinar 2024

The 2024 #TickTheBox webinar, held on 23 October, brought together over 100 attendees, including care-experienced people, foster carers, and professionals, to explore support available in higher education. Expert panelists from UCAS, NNECL, Become, and the University of York shared insights on the UCAS process, best practice in supporting care-experienced students, and guidance for carers through initiatives like Foster their Future and the Propel platform. 

Watch here

Events in Northern Ireland 

Our 2023 #TickTheBox campaign launch in Northern Ireland was held on Monday 30 October 2023 at Ulster University, Belfast. The event included an information fair, tours of the university, presentations by The Fostering Network, Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University, a looked after young person and a foster carer.  

The following universities and colleges welcomed young people for individual and group tours: Queen's University, Belfast, Stranmillis University College, Belfast, St Mary’s University College, Belfast, Northern Regional College, North West Regional College, Belfast Metropolitan College, South Eastern Regional College, South West Regional College and Southern Regional College. 

#TickTheBox webinar 2022 

The webinar gave care-experienced people, foster carers, social workers, and others the chance to learn more about the university application process, available support, finances, and accommodation, and to ask their questions directly. Presentations were delivered by experts from UCAS, the Student Loans Company, NNECL, Cardiff University, the University of Sunderland, Inverness College (UHI), and Ulster University.

Watch here

 

The Fostering Network’s Tick the Box campaign was developed in conjunction with the University of Ulster and the Health and Social Care Board in Northern Ireland. Read the University of Ulster’s 2024 publication Pathways to Further and Higher Education for Looked After and Care Experienced Young People. 

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