We are Durham University’s dedicated support network for estranged and/or care-experienced students (EaCE). We provide pre- and post-entry support to all from an EaCE background, to help them during their higher education journey. DU Cares provides multi-faceted support in different key areas that are; Pre-entry & Admissions, Accommodation & Colleges, Finance, and Careers. These key pillars of support are provided through multiple teams working collaboratively for each individual student but can all be accessed through DU Cares by contacting Ricky Lee and Rebecca Duckworth at du.cares@durham.ac.uk.
Durham have signed both the Care Leaver Covenant – in partnership with NERAP - and Stand Alone Pledge to support care-experienced and estranged students, respectively. In engaging with the Care Leaver Covenant and Stand Alone Pledge, we have committed to provide a level of support for students from EaCE backgrounds. You can find more about each offer of support on the individual care-experienced and estranged students pages of our website. You may also be interested in the National Network For the Education of Care Leavers Website
Check out our specific care-experienced and estranged student support pages below. These pages will hopefully give a little more information about the specific support that we offer. Additionally, you can follow those pages to learn more about NERAP, the Care Leaver Covenant, and the Stand Alone Pledge. You can also reach out to us at du.cares@durham.ac.uk with any questions.
EaCE students are given priority consideration for our access schemes, which you can learn about on our Supported Progression, Sutton Trust, and STEP pages. Care-experienced and/or estranged students are also counted in our contextual offer criteria.
As part of our pre-entry support, we have a dedicated point of contact via our du.cares@durham.ac.uk email address who can support with any general queries on the UCAS application process, personal statement writing, and admissions support.
We run additional campus visits for offer holders who are estranged or care-experienced. These visits consist of a tour of our campus and facilities, where you will be accompanied by a member of the DU Cares team who can answer specific questions you might have. These visits are the best opportunity for you to see the campus again before joining Durham University while also being able to ask about the support we offer at Durham for care-experienced and estranged students. Please email: du.cares@durham.ac.uk if you have any questions. Booking for offer holder visits will open again in 2025.
Support for care-experienced students.
Support for estranged students.
DU Cares provides multi-faceted support in different key areas; Pre-entry & Admissions, Accommodation & Colleges, Finance, and Careers.
Pre-Entry Support
As part of our pre-entry support, we have a dedicated point of contact (our du.cares@durham.ac.uk email address) who can offer support with any general queries on the UCAS application process, personal statement writing, and admissions support. Care-experienced and/or estranged students are also counted in our contextual offer criteria. EaCE students are also given priority consideration for our access schemes.
Accommodation and Colleges.
Durham’s college system offers students with another layer of support and community. Each college provides a pastoral network of support, guidance and signposting to students during their time at university. Estranged and care-experienced students can access 365 days a year accommodation, and some colleges may provide summer activities for pre-sessional students to engage with. You can find out more about Durham’s colleges here.
Finance
We have several financial incentives to support students at Durham university. Students from low-income households will be assessed for the Durham Grant Scheme, which can be up to £2,500 per year for the 2023/24 academic year. Students from low-income households can also apply for the Student Employability Fund which provides financial support for developing skills and attributes to boost employability. We also offer a Hardship Fund, in line with our Stand Alone Pledge, to help students with buying essentials like food or travel.
We also offer a dedicated point of contact in our Student Money Advice team. This is a service which can offer advice and support with budgeting, money management, government benefits, debt issues, banking and general financial concerns. The service can be accessed by contacting: studentmoneyadviser@durham.ac.uk
Careers
In our Careers team, we have a dedicated point of contact who can be reached by contacting the DU Cares team with any queries. We offer lifetime careers support to all our students and graduates at Durham. During your time at Durham, we will also offer CV writing, application, and interview support to help with gaining part-time work, volunteering roles, full-time employment, graduate internships, and anything else you need support applying for.
For more in depth information click: Care Experienced and Estranged students Careers & Enterprise support 2024.
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