Being a young carer can have a profound impact on all aspects of a child’s life. Without the right support, it can be particularly detrimental to children’s education and academic achievements, leading to disadvantage for jobs and career prospects.
A new study by the Nuffield Foundation shows that young carers face serious and long-lasting barriers in education. Focusing on Key Stage 5, the final phase of secondary education in England, the study includes students in Year 13, aged 16–18, studying for A-Levels and equivalent qualifications.
The new evidence is particularly significant when put in the wider context and combined with higher education figures. It is a stark reality that only 3.8% of UCAS applicants in 2023 were identified as young adult carers, out of an estimated 12% of young people have caring responsibilities.
The study leads to a simple, unfair conclusion. Young carers are being left behind. The impact on their future opportunities show why they must be treated as a priority group by every education provider and national governments.
The evidence
Young carers are a critical yet often under-recognised group of carers in the UK. Understanding academic attainment patterns can support earlier identification and help educational institutions provide more targeted interventions.
The study sits in the context of a previous study conducted by the Nuffield Foundation, which analysed the academic attainment of younger carers, namely those in KS2 and KS4. It found that carers in KS4 achieved fewer GCSEs and lower grades, while those in KS2 were much more likely to fail reaching the expected levels in maths, reading and writing.
The new research focused on children under 18 who care for a friend or family member, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction. These young carers make up 8%, meaning approximately 1 in 13 16–18-year-old students have care responsibilities.
The researchers used a sample of 3,306 students, analysing linked data from Understanding Society (UK Household Longitudinal Study) with the National Pupil Database (NPD), covering the period from 2009 to 2018. The data combines self-reported information on young caring with official administrative records on educational attainment.
Key findings
The study highlights a series of negative consequences of young caring for children’s academic performance.
- Lower attainment
The evidence is clear. Young carers obtained fewer qualifications, with a striking 19% of fewer A-Level passes than non-carers.
- Key attainment benchmark
Young carers are also 60% less likely to attain the key benchmark of achieving three or more A-levels or equivalent qualifications.
- Vocational routes
Young carers were 64% more likely to follow a vocational qualification pathway, even though they don’t show better outcomes in vocational attainment.
- Gaps beyond socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic differences do not explain these academic differences between young carers and non-carers.
Young carers in general are more likely to be from Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi ethnic background, to live in lower income households with unemployed parents, and to reside in more deprived areas.
What does this mean for policy?
- Intervention
The study points very clearly to necessary changes in policy, and assigns responsibility to the Government, the Department for Education, and education providers.
To improve the situation, the UK Government should provide funding to enhance the identification of, and support for, young carers in education.
The Department for Education also has an important part to play. It should require all education providers to appoint a student carer lead, who would be responsible for raising awareness and ensuring appropriate support for young carers. Other initiatives should include launching an awareness campaign to help education professionals better understand the challenges faced by young carers.
Education providers, on the other hand, should focus on implementing a young carers policy to formally recognise young carers within the education system, ensuring they are entitled to specific rights and support.
- Support
The study highlights the need for tailored educational support, as a joint effort between the UK Government and Education providers.
The UK Government is asked to expand access to financial assistance, such as bursaries, transport subsidies, and additional learning resources, to help reduce socioeconomic barriers. It should also embed the needs of young carers into national education strategies, ensuring policy commitment to addressing their educational disadvantage.
This should be matched by education providers offering flexible, targeted academic interventions for young carers, including support with workload, deadlines, and revision planning.
If governments and policymakers care about improving the current situation of children with caring responsibilities, they need to act, and they need to act now.
The research contributes to robust, population-level evidence that by the end of secondary education young carers are at a clear disadvantage. They earn fewer qualifications and lower grades.
The data shows that young carers mostly come from disadvantaged backgrounds, are often in vulnerable situations and lack the necessary support to balance caring and learning over many years – which is simply not good enough.
Young carers post-16 academic attainment in England is research by Rebecca Lacey, Anne McMunn, Alejandra Letelier, Andy McGowan and Krista Cartlidge, supported by the Nuffield Foundation, Carers Trust, MYTIME Young Carers.