Care experienced students’ transitions to university: learning identities, prior educational experiences and socio-cultural contexts

Abstract

Care experienced students are one of the most under-represented groups in higher education (HE) in the UK. Research in this field has sought to understand why some care experienced young people successfully transition to higher education and achieve good outcomes in it, despite experiencing considerable adversities and inequalities. To date, there has been scant detailed attention to the role of students’ wider social contexts in their transitions to university. Drawing on the voices of 14 care experienced students and graduates from UK universities, the paper highlights the role of their learning identities and social and cultural capitals and resources in their transitions to HE. The data provides an opportunity to critique individualising accounts of successful transitions to HE which have foregrounded notions of resilience or self-determination, by highlighting the role of wider social circumstances in care experienced students’ higher education decisions and transitions.