In addition to the general advice on the UCAS application, these are some extra points you may wish to consider if you are applying to university as a carer.
1) Writing about your caring responsibilities in your personal statement
- You may have developed skills while caring for a family member from daily responsibilities such as household tasks, managing household budgets, communicating with medical professionals, and perhaps administering medication. These could be really useful to highlight if you’ve been unable to take part in after-school activities or work experience due to your caring commitments
- If you are in full time education, your Personal Statement is also an opportunity to show how you have juggled your studies with caring responsibilities, as this could demonstrate perseverance and time management
- If you are applying for course areas in Health and Social Care, you may like to reflect on how your experiences have shaped your motivation for wanting to study courses of this nature
- Universities welcome applications from carers, but it is your choice if you wish to share this information on your Personal Statement. We understand not everyone is comfortable in doing so
2) Asking your UCAS referee to talk about your caring responsibilities
- If your UCAS referee (this is usually a teacher or tutor at school/college) is aware that you are a carer, you may wish to ask them to mention this in their reference
- Talking about this in the reference could make course admissions teams at universities aware of your circumstances and if it has had any impact on your studies
- We understand that you may not be comfortable for your referee to disclose this, so you are under no pressure to do so
For additional help, UCAS and the Carers Trust have put together a handy guide on preparing your Personal Statement and what you might wish to focus on.
If you have any further questions, please contact the SHU Progress team at SHU-Progress@shu.ac.uk or (0114) 225 4777.