Blog17 September 2025
Higher education is often described as a gateway to opportunity, a place where potential is nurtured, futures are shaped, and social mobility is made possible. Yet for young people with experience of children’s social care, that gateway remains stubbornly closed. At the recent launch of ‘Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care’, I stood alongside researchers, practitioners and policymakers to confront a stark truth: we are failing those who need education most.
These numbers are not abstract. They represent lives shaped more by circumstance than by potential. They echo the injustices Dickens wrote about in Oliver Twist, and nearly two centuries later, the parallels remain disturbingly familiar.
The statistics are unequivocal. Only 14% of care-experienced young people progress to university by age 22, nearly three times lower than their peers who received free school meals, and four times lower than the general population. These numbers are not abstract. They represent lives shaped more by circumstance than by potential. They echo the injustices Dickens wrote about in Oliver Twist, and nearly two centuries later, the parallels remain disturbingly familiar.
Even within the care-experienced cohort, disparities persist. Young people with formal care leaver status are more likely to enter higher education than those who have experienced social care but do not carry that label. This suggests that where recognition and tailored support exist, outcomes improve. The gap is not one of ability, it is one of access.
[Data] cannot convey the emotional toll of navigating university without a family safety net. It cannot reveal the isolation of sitting in a lecture hall, feeling like an imposter. It cannot measure the courage it takes to disclose your background, knowing it may invite stigma.
The TASO report offers a robust evidence base, but those of us with lived experience know that data alone cannot capture the full story. It cannot convey the emotional toll of navigating university without a family safety net. It cannot reveal the isolation of sitting in a lecture hall, feeling like an imposter. It cannot measure the courage it takes to disclose your background, knowing it may invite stigma. As a student at Swansea University who entered care at 14, I have lived these realities. And I know that behind every statistic is a person fighting to be seen.
The tyranny of luck
One truth remains painfully clear: success for care-experienced students too often depends on luck. I was fortunate to attend Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Buckinghamshire, where I received the support and encouragement needed to thrive. Without that, my journey into medical school and a master’s in genomic medicine would have been impossible.
But luck should never be a prerequisite for opportunity. The system must be redesigned so that support is not the exception, it is the norm. The TASO report speaks of widening participation, but too often that means opening the door without ensuring students can walk through it and stay. For those of us without a safety net, chance is not enough.
What the data misses
The report highlights disparities in entry and completion rates, but two critical issues demand deeper attention.
First, non-disclosure. Many care-experienced students do not tick the box on their UCAS form, whether due to stigma, unclear terminology, or lack of awareness about available support. This invisibility leads to patchy, inconsistent provision. UCAS must revise its application language to encourage disclosure, while universities must ensure that disclosed data translates into meaningful support. If institutions redesign their data collection to reflect the full spectrum of social care experience, from care leavers to child protection plans, more students will feel empowered to disclose and access the help they deserve.
One of the report’s most compelling findings is that around a third of care leavers (36%) and those ever in care (33%) enter higher education through vocational pathways compared to just 13% of the general population.
Second, retention and mental health. The report reveals that 18% of care leavers drop out without a qualification, two and a half times the rate of the general population. But the numbers do not show what it feels like to face an empty flat in summer when student halls close. They do not show the anxiety of financial precarity, or the loneliness of navigating adulthood without familial support. Universities must invest not only in access, but in sustained pastoral care, mental health services, and year-round accommodation. Otherwise, the cycle of dropout and unrealised potential will continue.
Vocational routes: a second chance
One of the report’s most compelling findings is that around a third of care leavers (36%) and those ever in care (33%) enter higher education through vocational pathways compared to just 13% of the general population. These routes offer second chances for those who do not follow the traditional A-level pipeline.
Yet vocational learners are too often treated as second-class. This must change. Universities should:
- Forge stronger partnerships with further education colleges
- Design bridging programmes for BTEC, T Level, and Access to Higher Education students
- Embed vocational progression targets in access and participation plans
- Celebrate vocational learners as equal contributors to academic life
If vocational routes are where care-experienced students thrive, they must be nurtured, not marginalised.
For care-experienced young people, every statistic is tied to stories of resilience, missed opportunities, and sometimes sheer survival.
What must change
The TASO report points to three urgent priorities:
- Redesign data collection to reflect reality. UCAS and universities must ask broader, clearer questions that capture all forms of social care experience. Data must be used to care, not just count.
- Shift the focus from access to success. Widening participation must include tailored financial aid, specialist mental health provision, long-term mentoring, and year-round accommodation. Scotland’s corporate parenting model offers a blueprint for wraparound support.
- Value diverse pathways. Whether through vocational routes or non-linear journeys, universities must recognise that talent does not only flow through traditional pipelines.
These findings underscore the need for stronger implementation of duties under the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and more ambitious Access and Participation Plans. Universities must move beyond compliance and toward transformation.
A final reflection
History will judge us by how we treat our most vulnerable. To the widening participation community, I offer this reminder: behind every dataset is a person. For care-experienced young people, every statistic is tied to stories of resilience, missed opportunities, and sometimes sheer survival.
I would not be writing this post or speaking at the TASO event if I had not gone to university. And I would not have reached university without both formal support and the informal luck of being placed in the right school. But we cannot build an education system that depends on luck.
The TASO report gives us evidence. My story gives that evidence a face. Together, they deliver a message we cannot ignore:
Potential is everywhere. Opportunity is not. It is our responsibility to close that gap.