"Scotland’s universities are to offer guaranteed undergraduate places to students who have been in care at any point in their lives as part of a groundbreaking effort to increase the number from that demographic doing a degree," according to this article from the Guardian. While over 40% of school leavers in Scotland go on directly to university, only 4% of care-experienced school leavers will do so, according to this article. This new policy is aimed at addressing that gap. "Under the scheme, a place will be automatically offered to applicants who meet an institution’s minimum entry requirements, which are lower for those who have been in care under a policy designed to widen access," says the article. “The fact that the guaranteed offer has no upper age limit demonstrates a commitment by universities to seek out ways to support care-experienced learners beyond the statutory requirement of age 26,” said Duncan Dunlop, the chief executive of the Who Cares? Scotland charity.
