Posted 26 October 2021

Care-experienced young people are one of the key under-represented groups that Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) works with as part of our aim to reduce inequalities in access to, success in and progression from Higher Education.  

We achieve this by facilitating and supporting connections between our HE provider member institutions and by working with those who already engage with care-experienced young people. We have a close relationship with local authority teams across West Yorkshire who support this group of learners. This includes staff in the Virtual Schools as well as the foster care and leaving care teams.  

Examples of the work we do to support care-experienced young people: 

• Managing the partnership’s collaborative Care Leaver Covenant, which enshrines the commitment across the partnership to supporting this group. 
• Facilitating conversations between HE providers and local authorities to foster understanding of each other’s situations and support delivery of mutually beneficial activity. 
• Producing resources to introduce the huge range of higher education options available locally. 
• Working in partnership to write and deliver CPD aimed at foster carers and children’s home staff to help them support young people to think about future study options and to make informed decisions about their own futures. 
• Working in partnership to write and deliver CPD aimed at student-facing staff in HE, to help them understand the kinds of experiences a care-experienced young person may have had. 

We are keen to work strategically with key local stakeholders to better understand how we can support you and those you work with to help care-experienced young people make informed decisions about their own futures, and to support them with access to the opportunities they need to succeed.