Guidance and support

Online resources and downloads covering services for children in care.

Support for children and young people

For support to help prevent young people from carrying out anti-social behaviour, disengaging from education and society, joining gangs and committing violent acts visit the Rainbow Service website.​

For resources to help children and young people control their financial wellbeing visit the Lloyds Bank Academy ​Financial Skills web page.

Useful service list for young people (Word, 30KB) - information on children / young people clubs, charities, organisations and post 16 support.

GCSE support

For resources to support young people through and to revise for their GCSE exams visit the following websites:

For information to help parents and carers find out more about GCSEs download DfE’s Is your child studying for GCSEs? Factsheet.

Career guidance and support

For general information about careers for young people leaving care visit the National Careers Service website.

To search and apply for apprenticeships visit the Find an apprenticeship​ service.

For apprenticeship support for care leavers visit the Moving On Up website.

Higher education support

A £2,000 bursary is available for care leavers who go on to higher education and post-18 education, such as university.

The bursary is part of the overall support package local authorities provide to care leavers.​

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund helps students overcome specific barriers to participation so they can remain in education.

Eligible care leavers should be told about this bursary during their further education where education settings can also manage Care to Learn applications and vulnerable bursary claims.

For more information about the available funding for care leavers use ESFA’s 16 to 19 Education: Financial Support for Students guidance.

For more support for care leavers looking to enter higher education visit the following website:

Housing support

For information about housing support for care leavers use GOV.UK’s Joint housing protocols for care leavers: good practice advice guidance.