Report shows 63% of care experienced applicants expect a culture shock at university
31 October 2024
In our 2024 Applicant Index, we found that 63% of care experienced applicants anticipated a sense of culture shock at university – more than any other group.
In a special guest blog for National Care Leavers Week, the Unite Foundation looks at why this might be, what care experienced and estranged students think, and what the Higher Education sector can do to help.
“Even if we want and are able to fit in and find our new home within university, we will always feel different.” – Unite Foundation student
The Unite Foundation supports care experienced and estranged students with a rent-free, year-round #HomeAtUniversity. The charity was originally established by Unite Students, who continue to be our principal donor and accommodation partner – they have donated over £16 million to us since 2012.
Since then, we have supported over 800 care experienced and estranged students through our nationwide accommodation scholarship, and we work closely with Unite Students and our university partners to provide wrap-around support.
It’s helpful to understand how care-experienced and estranged students are feeling about applying to and going to university. Each year, we anticipate the release of Unite Students’ Applicant Index report and we value their commitment to better understanding care-experienced and estranged students’ experiences through this research.
The Applicant Index report reinforces some of the things we know and understand about estranged and care experienced students’ expectations and experiences of Higher Education, but one thing that stood out to us this year was the topic of ‘culture shock’.
Culture shock describes the feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or surroundings – and the anticipation of that amongst different student groups.
This year’s report found that 46% of UK applicants expected it would be difficult to get used to the culture at university, and 57% of international applicants agreed. But prevalence was highest amongst care experienced applicants at 63%. Why is that?
Milana and Shanti are both students on the Unite Foundation scholarship. They share their thoughts:
“In my opinion, care experienced students anticipate a culture shock because they feel quite different compared to others. Due to their varied lived experiences, care experienced students are forced to become more mature and independent at a young age. Without all the available support that is more available to other students who have full families who help them financially and in many other ways, care experienced students have mostly themselves to count on.
Starting university is a big challenge for all young people despite their background as it can become a pathway into isolation, stress and burnout if students do not have the right support network. And this is the case for most care experienced students. We have to work twice as hard as others because we do not have the same opportunities and all the available support that others can access so easily.
As young people who have been strong for so long, we understand that university is another milestone that we need to achieve because we are fighting for our own future. If we fail, the consequences are more severe for us and our future which puts us in unfair position. Because this means that we cannot be as carefree and young as other students might be experiencing it.
This maturity sets us apart from our fellow classmates. We cannot relate on many levels as our experiences cannot be easily understood or shared. Even if we want and are able to fit in and find our new home within university, we will always feel different because of our own strength, pain and wisdom that we gained throughout life. Because we were held accountable much sooner than others.
All of these factors set us apart.”
Estranged students feel it, too.
“‘What are you doing over the Christmas break?’ I heard someone say in my first year, and my heart started beating. ‘Going skiing in France,’ another person replied. ‘No way, me too – whereabouts?’ I sat there thinking I didn’t even realise people went on skiing holidays. At the age of 18, I had never once thought about going on a skiing holiday. Because when I think holiday, I think beach and sun – not snow and activities.
Then you’d go out and someone would ask if I knew how to drive. I would say no – who was going to teach me how to drive? They would say something like, ‘My dad taught me when I was 16 so I could take my test at 17,’ and I’d reply with a smile and a nod. What could I say to that? That was the year my dad passed away. My dad never taught me how to drive.”
Take note. Most new and returning students have been welcomed for the new year – but it’s often a few weeks in that the novelty of freshers’ events and the start of a new term can diminish and the culture shock sets in. Consider where students are coming from, how their experiences are different and how that can impact their experience of university. What can you do to support estranged and care experienced students to help them feel at home?
This week the Children’s Commissioner released ‘Supporting care experienced students: A handbook for professionals working in higher education’, a set of actionable recommendations to support care experienced students on their journey to and through university – including some important recommendations specifically related to accommodation.
And remember, estranged students face many similar challenges to care experienced students, often with less support available. We’d love to see many of these recommendations in action for estranged students too.
Unite Foundation is an independent charity, supporting estranged and care experienced students with a rent-free #HomeAtUniversity through a nationwide scholarship scheme. Find out more at their website.
To learn what university life is like for students on the scholarship, you can follow ‘This is Us’, the students on the Unite Foundation scholarship on Instagram, X and Tik Tok. You can also hear from Milana on Unite Students’ recent episode of Accommodation Matters: