Care Leavers' Bursary

We believe anyone with the potential to study at university should have the opportunity to do so, and we provide a range of support for care leavers as a result. This includes the Care Leavers’ Bursary.

For the purposes of the Care Leavers’ Bursary, a Care Leaver is defined as a young person who has been in care for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14. A student is defined as a young person if they are under 21 at the start of their course. Care Leavers who have subsequently been adopted, or are the subject of a Special Guardianship Order, will not automatically be eligible.

The Care Leavers’ Bursary is not means-tested and therefore once a student has been assessed as eligible, they will not need to reapply in future years.

To apply for this bursary, students should complete an application form which will be available on the webpage at the beginning of the Autumn term. Students should complete the form by the last day of the summer term of the 2025/26 academic year to be considered for the Care Leavers’ Bursary. You can read the full Loughborough University Bursary terms and conditions for more information. For help with the application form, please contact Student Advice and Support.

In addition to the Care Leavers’ Bursary, care leavers are usually considered as independent students for the purpose of student finance and are often therefore eligible for the highest levels of financial support. Further information about undergraduate student funding can be found on the Student Advice and Support Service webpages.

In addition, students entering higher education before the age of 25 may be eligible for a one-off bursary of at least £2,000 from their local authority so they should explore this directly. There are further details about this on the Become charity website as well as a wealth of other information