Studying at LIS as a Care-Experienced Student

Hi, my name is Zhahla and I’m an incoming third-year student at the London Interdisciplinary School. Currently, I’m on my summer holidays, but I’ve been diligently working on a research project on how we can support care-experienced students to attend and thrive at university. I entered foster care aged 16 and left the care system when I moved to London to start university. I have been on a long journey both since and before leaving care, but it’s lovely to be at university, studying a degree that I really care about.

I always planned to go to university, and my sights were set on Oxbridge when I was young, as I had a passion for learning and challenging myself in and outside of school. But it was in my mid-teens that I realised I loved studying lots of different things. I really enjoyed my GCSEs and didn’t want to be confined by my education, so I started looking for degrees that would let me broaden my knowledge. Later, when I entered the care system, I also wanted a degree that would give me room to explore my personal experiences — and the experiences of many people who have been in care — in a purposeful way.

I came across LIS before it had even opened. There was an advertisement for it on the UCAS website — a new university looking for its first cohort of students. I was only 14 or 15 at the time, so it was too early to apply, but I kept my eye on LIS as I worked my way towards A levels.

As a care leaver, leaving care created a sense of instability in my life. I was excited for the future but also scared, as it felt like a lot of change was happening and a lot of support was falling away. My research into universities was thorough, and there were many things that really appealed to me about LIS.

LIS is a small university, which means there is a community of students where everyone knows each other. I didn’t want to be lost in an institution of thousands of students, so that really appealed to me. This showed in lots of the interactions I had with LIS, even before I started.

I was interviewed for LIS, and compared to my Oxbridge interviews, the interview for LIS was a calm and useful experience. I was able to talk to a member of the faculty about my interests and was even sent a book based on those interests afterwards!

I also had 1-2-1 conversations with LIS staff such as Alisha from student support and team members like Anastasia, who were key points of contact before I arrived. I disclosed my care experience in my application to LIS and was relieved to hear that there was a large bursary available to me as a care-experienced student.

I knew moving to London was going to be a big change in my life, and this was where the events LIS ran in the months before I joined really helped. They made me feel more familiar with the campus and the area around the university. During my A levels it was tricky to find time to visit, but these opportunities helped me confirm that LIS was what I wanted — and allowed me to meet some of my classmates before we even started.

So, what has it been like for me to study at LIS as a care-experienced student?

In terms of student support, it has been great! Alisha really helped me get through some of the tougher points of the course. I struggled with loneliness at times, and there were moments when I couldn’t look ahead to the future — when everything I was going through felt like too much. Alisha has been a soothing presence, and just having a student support member who is available and easy to reach has helped me feel more seen. Something that has really made a difference is Alisha helping me think ahead. I don’t really have a big safety net to fall back on after university, and I don’t go “home” for the holidays, so having someone who helps me plan and reminds me that I’m juggling a lot has lifted a weight off my shoulders.

I’m also not extremely vocal about my care experience (except maybe in my assignments and LinkedIn posts!), but I’ve found that when I have felt safe sharing some of my life experiences with classmates or staff, they have approached it with gentle curiosity and empathy.

If you are care-experienced and reading this, I want to say: I’m so proud of you! No matter where you are in life, I’m proud of you and all that you have achieved. If you are care-experienced and thinking of coming to LIS, I would love it if you applied! If LIS looks and feels like a university that you want to go to, please take the leap and apply — but if it doesn’t, I hope you find a university that helps you flourish. There are still challenges I face as a care-experienced person, but I’m proud that I made it to university. I’ve made so many friends and positive experiences during my time here that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and I hope you will experience this joy too.

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