ID110 Keele Cares

The Idea

At Keele and across the sector increasing number of students either stay local to live at home during their studies or return home after graduation. We know that this has been a trend over many years but has been accelerated due to more recent high inflation. While many graduates can return home or draw on family support as they begin their careers, a small group face a "cliff edge" at graduation, with the sudden withdrawal or absence of support, accommodation, and financial security. 

There is a small group of graduates who do not have a home or for whom home is not a safe place. Graduates in local authority care find that their support ends at the age of 21, coinciding in most cases with graduation. Other graduates are in effect estranged from their families, but do not meet the technical definition, because they still have contact. This can include members of the LGBTIQ community whose parents reject their identity as well as graduates faced with forced marriage. Over the years as personal tutor/academic mentor I have supported students from all three of these groups.

The idea is to create a structured, one year transition period at Keele for graduates who find themselves in a vulnerable position. This would include access to renting student accommodation and student support (welfare) as well as career support through placements. The aim is to provide vulnerable graduates with a safe place to live and structured support to independent living and a secure start to their career.

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

Higher Horizons at Keele does a lot of work in widening participation and outreach to support people from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups to access university. The structured transition year would close the circle to support those graduates who are most vulnerable not only to succeed but also effectively progress from higher education in order to fulfil the promise of Keele's emphasis on transformative education. 

This proposal supports Keele's Access and Participation commitments by addressing a significant post-graduation equity gap, contributes to improved Graduate Outcomes through supported progression into employment, and advances the University's civic mission by ensuring that some of its most vulnerable students are not faced with a cliff-edge loss of support at the point of graduation.

How We Would Implement This Idea

As personal tutor/academic mentor I have relied on the professional expertise of colleagues in Student Support in these cases. They have been amazing but limited in the support they could give once students graduate.

My question is whether Keele could introduce for UG/ PGT something akin to the continuation year for PGR students. One year with a registration, where the nominal fee is waived (akin to PGR Covid waiver) that would give vulnerable students (more expansive than government definition- tbd) access to subsidized student accommodation, student support, career support/placements. The transition year could mirror Keele’s pioneering foundation year, in the sense that it would create a cohort/ community (to counter social isolation and to encourage peer support), it would offer structured events/workshops (careers, wellbeing, local authority support for housing) and dedicated individualized support for wellbeing, housing and career. Together it would offer vulnerable graduates structured and holistic support for transition into a sustainable career path complemented with safe and secure independent living.  

It would require a collective and collaborative approach with colleagues in Student Records, Student Support, Partnership Teams, Higher Horizon, Alumni Team and Disability and Inclusion Team to explore the feasibility of this idea, to create a framework for identifying vulnerable students, to develop a structured transition year and to identify funding.  It would also be a good opportunity to reach out to the  Stand Alone Charity to explore a possible partnership in developing the transition year. They are ideally placed due to their work supporting estranged adults together with their research on estranged students’ experiences of barriers during transition out of university. 

To support with defining vulnerable estranged students - draw on colleagues in the Law School with expertise in adult social care, Dr Laura Pritchard-Jones, Dr Kevin De Sabbata, Dr Abi Pearson, Dr Ezgi Tascioglu. 

What Success Would Look Like

Success would include the following: 

• Develop a framework for defining and identifying vulnerable, estranged students 
• Develop and implement the structured transition year with initial target of places 
• Successful integration into Student Support structures and clear pathways for identification and referring students to the scheme. 
• Uptake of places 
• Successful transition into independent living