Undergraduate Study
We are currently expanding our provisions for the Realise Project, and further updates will be provided as they are available. In the meantime, please contact realise@admin.cam.ac.uk or kirstyn.kedaitis@admin.cam.ac.uk with any questions.
If you are a care-experienced or estranged student, whether considering Cambridge or currently enrolled, and you have some questions about support available to you, please email realise@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Similarly, if you are a foster carer or social worker and would like to know more about our work, please get in touch via the same email.
You can also sign up to one of our mailing lists for further news through the links on this page.
Please note, to cover the cost of travel to attend events at the University, we offer a Travel Fund for those aged 16 or above who are currently in local authority care or from a care background.
Realise are happy to announce our Spring Taster Day event, hosted in cooperation with University of East Anglia. This event will allow care-experienced students in Years 11 and 12 to visit the university, learn more about higher education, meet current students and get a glimpse into university life. For more information and to book a place, visit the Spring Taster Day page.
We recognise that early intervention is very important to encourage students onto Higher Education. We work with care-experienced students in the Cambridgeshire area, offering face-to-face events and virtual mentoring for a group of Year 9s. We hope to mentor them up to the age of 18, supporting them to consider their academic and vocational choices.
Mentoring will take place once a fortnight online, with a face-to-face meeting each holiday. We have based our project planning on 'Theraplay'. The importance of fun when learning is scientifically proven so we intend to have lots of it!
Some of the typical activities we might host are listed below:
Whilst we cannot guarantee a place, if you are aware of a student that you think would be eligible to take part in the Realise Project, please do be in touch (realise@admin.cam.ac.uk).
If you want to study courses in the Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences and circumstances have prevented you from realising your academic potential, this is an opportunity not to miss!
The Cambridge Foundation Year is designed to help you realise your academic potential through a full-time course fully embedded in the University. In order to apply for the Cambridge Foundation Year, you must meet eligibility criteria – if you are care experienced, you will automatically be eligible for this opportunity!
Find out more about the Foundation Year course on our website, read about the next steps in your applicant journey, or sign up to the Foundation Year mailing list.
For any question you may have, please don’t hesitate to contact: kirstyn.kedaitis@admin.cam.ac.uk or grace.sullivan@aru.ac.uk.
The month of May sees the annual celebration of Foster Care Fortnight; a national campaign to raise the profile of fostering and celebrate foster carers.
The Realise Project has marked Foster Care Fortnight for successive years, through online webinars and most recently at an in-person conference at Homerton College. Foster carers and their foster children were invited to the college to meet staff and students and hear more about how to access higher education.
Read the full story here (link coming soon).
Do get in touch with the Realise team about further events and opportunities for foster carers or care-experienced students. You can email Kirstyn Kedaitis: realise@admin.cam.ac.uk
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