Being a carer or young carer can have a serious adverse effect on a student’s education. Coleg Cambria is committed to supporting carers and young carers’ emotional, educational and personal development to enable them to aspire and achieve in education regardless of complexities of their personal needs and home circumstances. Because they struggle to balance their care responsibilities at home with expectations at college, a young carer is likely to regularly experience any one or more of the following:

• Being late or absent due to fulfilling care responsibilities at home
• Concentration problems in the classroom
• Emotional distress – anxiety, anger, fear, worry, self-doubt
• Mental and/or physical fatigue or tiredness
• Lack of time to complete coursework on time or at all
• Physical problems such as back pain from lifting or other physical care duties

Coleg Cambria undertakes that the following support is available for all carers and young carers within the college:

• Coleg Cambria has an identified carer and young carer’s lead and link/representative.
• Any student who is identified as a carer or young carer whilst at the College will be referred to appropriate services subject to his/her consent.
• The College will be flexible with occasional late attendance due to a carer and young carer’s caring role; where this is a regular occurrence of lateness provision will be put into place to find a solution complying with all current policies.
• Coleg Cambria will at all times be flexible with regards to carer and young carer’s issues and their needs upholding confidentiality.
• Coleg Cambria will ensure carers and young carers can access all available pastoral and other support services at college.
• The College will provide carers and young carers with opportunities to speak to someone in private and will not discuss their situation in front of their peers.
• Coleg Cambria will provide access to a phone during breaks and lunchtime for carers and young carers to call home if they feel the need to do so.
• Coleg Cambria will seek to negotiate reasonable deadlines with carers and young carers for completion and submission of coursework (when needed).
• The College will provide access for parents with impaired mobility.

Please speak to one of the advisors in Student Services or email us on youngcarers@cambria.ac.uk.

A link to the college’s Young Adult Carers Policy can be found here – English | Welsh