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Background

An estranged student is someone who no longer has the support of their family due to a breakdown in family relations leading to ceased or sporadic contact.

Estrangement can occur for a wide variety of reasons such as abuse and neglect, rejection of LGBT+ identities, clash in personal values, clash of religious values and substance abuse.

They have no experience of being in care and do not have a corporate parent or a local authority responsible for them. It is for this reason that they are not care-experienced.

Research published in 2019 by the University of Strathclyde, Estranged Students in Higher and Further Education, found that estranged students often encounter the same issues as those with care-experience. Estranged students reported on their experiences of severe financial hardship, difficulty in securing accommodation due to guarantor requirements and fear of homelessness, lack of a sense of belonging and stigmatisation, mental health issues and disrupted study.

Stand Alone , established in 2012, was a national charity which supported people who are estranged from their family or children.

From 2016, Stand Alone focused on higher education, aiming to get the sector to recognize estranged students as a vulnerable group.

Unfortunately, Stand Alone ceased operations in April 2024. However, the ‘Passing the Baton’ Event led to 50 Higher Education Partners who had worked with Stand Alone to re-affirm their commitment to estranged students by signing the Stand Alone Legacy Pledge and committing to step into the gap Stand Alone left.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) recognises estranged students as a group ‘at risk’ of not achieving their full potential, from aspirations through to successful outcomes.

This is reflected in the financial support for students who are estranged from their parents or legal guardians by the Student Award Agency Scotland (SAAS).

Both the SFC and SAAS define and describe Estranged Students in the following way: (current, September 2025)

“Estranged means that you no longer have contact with your parents or legal guardians due to a permanent breakdown in your relationship.

If you are under 25 and estranged from your parents or legal guardians, we will not ask about their income when we work out the funding we give you.

If you have had any one-off contact with your parents or legal guardians while you have been estranged, we will look at this on a case by case basis.”

What can Practitioners Do?

Educational organisations are encouraged to provide estranged students with the same level of support as care-experienced students as per their corporate parenting responsibilities.

It is considered good practice to support these students in the following ways:

  • Offer a named point of contact to support the student both during their application and throughout the duration of their studies
  • Offer a dedicated web page for estranged students outlining the support available and how to access it
  • Include estranged students in widening participation and outreach work.
  • HEIs should consider estrangement within their contextualised admissions policy.
  • Provide 365 day accommodation in halls of residence to relieve some of the concerns about experiencing homelessness in the summer months
  • Dedicated bursaries and scholarships to ensure that students are financially supported
  • Creation of accessible guarantor schemes to allow students to have the flexibility of living in privately rented accommodation if they wish
  • Signposting students to appropriate support where needed such as university counselling services.

Networks and Forums

Estranged Working Group

Establish in Spring 2025 and convened by Alison Train, Assistant Director at LEAPS, the Estranged Working Group aims to improve provision for estranged students in Scotland. Membership now includes 14 Universities (including 3 UHI colleges), 6 Colleges, The Scottish Funding Council, The Unite Foundation, The Rock Trust, The Robertson Trust, SCAPP, UCAS, Renfrewshire Council, SWAP East and LEAPS.  There are 39 individual members.

New members are always welcome. Just get in touch with Alison at alison.train@ed.ac.uk

This Practitioner Community has created 4 task forces to take forward specific work, in conjunction with quarterly group meetings.

Task Force contacts:

  • Finance task force chair – Dan Keenan, University of Glasgow
    Policy task force chair – Tracey Kerr, SWAP East
  • Data task force co-chairs – Nicola Kennedy, Edinburgh Napier University and Peter Tormey, Robert Gordon University
  • Housing task force – Emily Flaherty, Glasgow Caledonian University

CEEC Forums (Care Experience, Estranged & Carers Forums)

For professionals across Higher Education Institutions who support these groups of students.

There are three current forums, East, West and North.

East Group contact: Jenny Edwards, Hub for Success: j.edwards2@napier.ac.uk

West & North Group contact: Niamh McCrossan, Hub for Success: n.mccrossan@napier.ac.uk

Resources

SCAPP continues to work with partners to preserve access to relevant online resources and link these below.

https://www.standalone.org.uk/ – website still online (current, September 2025)

SCAPP continues to make the following Stand Alone guides and reports available for Professionals supporting Estranged Students:

 

 

 

Other information

Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) provides information about funding and support available for estranged students.

UCAS has information for those applying without family support.

The Buttle Trust supports young people aged 20 and under if living independently with little or no support from their family, including those who are estranged, deserted or alienated from both parents offering grants to purchase various essential items to aid their studies. This must be applied for through a support worker or university/ college contact. Contact details for Scotland: 020 77986 220

Unite Foundation provides scholarships and free accommodation for partner universities.  Contact details: e: info@unitefoundation.co.uk  t: 0117 302 7073