Supporting information

Select ‘yes’ if you’ve spent time living in public care as a looked after child, including:

• in local authority care and living with foster carers, or in a children's home
• being 'looked after' at home under a home supervision order in Scotland

This does not refer to time spent in boarding schools, working in a care or healthcare setting, or if you are or have been a carer yourself. There is an additional question for learners that have care responsibility.

If you select ‘yes’, your information will be treated in confidence, to help the universities or colleges provide support for you and may also be used for monitoring purposes, which try to inform and improve support for students who have been looked after or in care.

If you are responsible for providing unpaid care for someone who has - for example - an illness, disability, mental health condition or addiction, you may be able to access additional support whilst studying. Find out more about the help available on our Adult carers web page, and from the charity Carers Trust.

Depending on your individual circumstances, many universities and colleges offer specific support if you have parental care responsibility, e.g. information on childcare, funding, pregnancy and maternity, or support groups where you can meet other students in a similar position.

Some providers can offer extra support for refugees and asylum seekers – the information you give here is to help them do this. For more information, see our website.We strongly recommend you contact the university before you apply to discuss your circumstances.

Universities and colleges welcome students with disabilities, and will try to meet your needs wherever possible. The information you give here will help them do this.

In addition to the uses outlined above, this information may be used by the university or college, to give them a fuller picture of your background. Universities and colleges will have different policies as to if, when and/or how this information may be used.