The Scottish Government has announced over £12 million of funding for the 2019-20 academic year in a bid to raise attainment for care experienced children and young people.

This funding is part of the total £33 million funding allocated to The Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund over the course of this parliament.

A Scottish Government press release states:

“More than £8 million of Scottish Government funding was spent last year on projects to improve the attainment of care experienced young people. Projects as diverse as mentoring programmes, counselling services and driving lessons were supported through the Care Experienced Children and Young People fund.

Now more than £12 million of further funding will be provided this academic year to enhance the support available. Local authorities will work with Chief Social Workers and Directors of Education to decide how this year’s funding will be used. Care experienced young people from birth up to the age of 26 are eligible for support.”

Read the full Scottish Government press release, including a breakdown of funding by local authority.

Commenting on the funding announcement, Staf CEO, Jo Derrick stated:

“The continued commitment by The Scottish Government to support improved attainment for Care Experienced Children and Young People is commendable. In particular, we are pleased that the fund will continue to be available to care-experienced young people up to the age of 26 but are keen to see how this funding is being spent to support care leavers.

As the most recent Education Outcomes for Looked After Children demonstrate, there remains a long way to go in bridging the attainment gap between those with experience of care and their peers. 

At Staf, our vision is of a Scotland where the wellbeing and success of young people leaving care is indistinguishable from that of their peers in the general population. To achieve this, we must all work collectively – and urgently – to eliminate the educational attainment gap.”

Read our reflections on the Education Outcomes for Looked After Children statistics on their release.


A number of measures and policies to help improve care experienced young people’s access into further and higher education have been introduced over the last few years. Of particular note is the introduction of the care-experienced bursary and subsequent positive developments including: increasing the level of support, extending eligibility to further education students, and removing the age cap of entitlement.

The Student Awards Agency for Scotland show that 840 students in higher education accessed The Care Experienced Bursary in the 2018/19 academic year. In July of this year, Universities Scotland announced that all Scottish universities will guarantee offers to care-experienced applicants who meet minimum entry requirements from the next academic year.

Read Staf’s response to the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 19/20


Further Information
CELCIS (2019) 'Being a student with care experience is very daunting' Findings from a survey of care experienced students
in Scottish colleges and universities https://www.celcis.org/files/9115/6147/3751/SFC_Report_FINAL_for_web_and_print.docx.pdf

Scottish Government (2019) Care experienced children attainment funding – National Operational Guidance (2019-20) https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/factsheet/2018/07/care-experienced-children-and-young-people-fund-operational-guidance/documents/care-experienced-children-young-people-attainment-funding-national-operational-guidance-july-2018-pdf/ 

Staf (2019) News: All Scottish universities will guarantee offers to care-experienced applicants who meet minimum entry requirements https://www.staf.scot/news/news-all-scottish-universities-will-guarantee-offers-to-care-experienced-applicants-who-meet-minimum-entry-requirements

Staf (2019) In conversation with Deputy First Minister John Swinney: New episode of The Forum podcast launched https://www.staf.scot/news/deputy-first-minister-john-swinney-care-experienced-bursary

Student Awards Agency for Scotland (2019) Higher Education Support in Scotland 2018-19
https://saas.gov.uk/_forms/statistics-1819.pdf