Care leavers: What support we offer, Leeds Conservatoire

Posted 14 February 2022

At Leeds Conservatoire, we are committed to supporting care experienced students. We want you to get the best out of your course, fulfil your potential, and enjoy your conservatoire experience.

Being care experienced means you will have spent time living with foster carers under local authority care, in residential care (e.g. a children’s home), looked after at home under a supervision order, or in kinship care with relatives or friends, either officially (e.g. a special guardianship order) or informally without local authority support.

From the moment you apply to join us at Leeds Conservatoire, right through to your graduation and beyond there is lots of support on offer to help you get the most out of your experience.

Pre-arrival support

We fully recognise that as a care-experienced young person coming to university for the first time, you may have a number of questions and concerns. You can contact us for support as early as you would like, even before you apply. We can talk to you about conservatoire life and answer any questions you may have. Our dedicated care leaver contact is Bethany Milner (access@leedsconservatoire.ac.uk)

Your UCAS application

Remember to tick the box on your UCAS application to let us know you have been in care. This is confidential and will not be assessed as part of your application. It does, however, help our student support team understand if you might require additional support, so we can make arrangements before your course begins. Find out more about UCAS Undergraduate support for care leavers.

If you would like to talk to our admissions team about your application, please email admissions@lcm.ac.uk

Campus tours

We are happy to organise campus tours for care leavers and foster families, so if you would like to arrange a student-led tour of our facilities you can book a campus tour online.

Financial support

We provide advice and support for care-experienced students on how to apply for any available funding and associated benefits. If you would like to talk to our student funding team, please contact studentfunding@leedsconservatoire.ac.uk.

We will also cover the cost of gown hire at Graduation for our care-experienced students.

You can visit our Fees and Funding page for more information.

Accommodation support

When you are offered a place to study at Leeds Conservatoire, your next step is to think about where to live. New undergraduate students in their first year of study can apply to live at either Joseph Stones House (managed by Unite Students) or One Mill Street (managed by Unipol).

Applicants joining us in September 2024, who have firmly accepted their offer of study, can apply for accommodation from 13 May 2024 onwards. Applicants will be emailed a link to an online accommodation form. This includes applicants who deferred their place from the previous year.

We can prioritise the following applicants who have an offer of study, providing you contact the Accommodation Team before 3 May 2024 to discuss your requirements:

applicants who are care experienced or estranged from their families
applicants with a diagnosed disability, long-term physical or mental health condition or allergy which needs to be considered for your accommodation

If you have any questions about accommodation, please email accommodation@leedsconservatoire.ac.ukor visit the Accommodation page for more information.

Health and wellbeing support

Within the Health and Wellbeing Team, we provide a range of free and confidential services to help with any practical, emotional, or mental health conditions that you might be experiencing, which are impacting upon your studies or student life.

If you are a prospective student and would like to discuss any specific support needs or concerns about your wellbeing please don’t hesitate to get in touch at healthandwellbeing@leedsconservatoire.ac.uk or visit the Health and Wellbeing page for more information

Frequently asked questions

Q. I’m supporting a care leaver, can I speak to a staff member?

Yes, we are happy to have conversations with any supporting staff. Please get in touch via email with any questions you may have.

Q. I was in care but student finance does not class me as care experienced. Can I still access support?

Yes, we’re here to help no matter your experience. We encourage you to speak to us so we can tailor our support to your unique situation.

Q. What is Kinship Care?

Kinship care – family or friends care – is where a child lives full-time or most of the time with a relative or close family friend, usually because their parents are not able to care for them. You can find out more here: https://compass.kinship.org.uk/advice-and-information/what-is-kinship-care/.

Please be aware that informal kinship care can be very difficult to evidence, but we would like to try to consider your circumstances where possible. You may be able to evidence this through something such as a:

A letter from a local authority social worker (this could include a copy of a completed IC1 form claiming support for a child informally living with a carer, signed by a registered social worker)
A letter from a school/college or other education setting, or other relevant professional, who can evidence your situation.
Any evidence of relevant benefits paid to your carer (e.g. child benefit being claimed by someone other than your birth parents [as listed on your birth certificate], Guardian’s Allowance).

Video resources

To find out more about Leeds Conservatoire, please follow the links below which will take you to our website and YouTube channel.

Student profile series

Find out more about the incredible projects and unique experiences our students have during their time at Leeds Conservatoire in our student profiles series