Students with care experience
Are you care experienced?
Care experience applies to anyone who has been, or currently is, in care or from a looked after background at any stage of their life, no matter how short. This care may have been provided in one of many different settings, such as in residential care, foster care, kinship care or looked after at home with a supervision requirement. This also includes adopted children who were previously looked after. We will provide support no matter what age you are now.
The above would normally apply to students studying on campus with experience of care in the UK, but with exceptions on a case-by-case basis as appropriate.
Disclosing care experience
Heriot-Watt is committed to giving access and opportunities to people who are care experienced and we recognise care experience as one of our widening access (WA) student groups. By telling us you are care experienced we can provide access to a range of advice, guidance and support to help you succeed at university. Please be reassured that any information you tell us will be dealt with confidentially.
In line with the Promise Heriot-Watt is committed to giving equal access and opportunities to people who are care experienced.
You can let us know you are care experienced during the application stage by ticking the box on your UCAS application, emailing access@hw.ac.uk, by ticking the box during your enrolment or at any point during your studies by emailing wpwellbeing@hw.ac.uk.
How can we support you?
If you are thinking about coming to university, you can fin out more about how we can help you from our care experienced students pages.
We offer a named point of contact to support you throughout your time at university:
Edinburgh campus
Emma Smail, Student Wellbeing and Transition Advisor, wpwellbeing@hw.ac.uk
Scottish Borders campus
Gillian McLaughlin, Student Wellbeing Advisor, SBC.Wellbeing@hw.ac.uk
Additionally, our Student Success Advisors can provide advice from a recent graduate perspective on all aspects of student life:
Edinburgh Campus: studentsuccess@hw.ac.uk
Scottish Borders Campus: SBC.Wellbeing@hw.ac.uk
You can also make appointments with Student Success Advisors through the myHWU Portal to discuss any concerns or difficulties you are having at university.
Every student has a member of academic staff allocated to them as a personal tutor who will be a key source of advice, guidance and support during your time at Heriot-Watt.
Ongoing support
We will provide ongoing advice and support throughout your studies. We will contact you regularly via email to ensure you are kept up to date during your studies. We will also offer you the opportunity to chat with us via video call, email or in person meetings.