Care and education: instability, stigma and the responsibilisation of educational achievement

Research highlights a plethora of negative outcomes for care leavers and it is widely accepted that children in care are likely to have lower educational attainment than their peers. Rather than concluding that these figures can be attributed directly to being ‘in care’, scholars have indicated that the matter is more complex, drawing attention to circumstances which pre-date or supersede entry into care. This paper seeks to highlight the experiences of those care leavers who bucked the trend and achieved sufficient qualifications to study in higher education. Despite achieving well academically, our research shows that young people in care still struggled to manage the academic pathway between care and university. This paper draws on evidence collected from 234 care experienced students in England and Wales to consider the educational challenges faced by those without familial support. Findings revealed that instability, stigma and poor institutional support were significant barriers in participants' educational journeys. We consider the impact of narratives of 'meritocracy' and 'resilience' on interpretations of educational success for care leavers. We conclude that caution should be exercised when celebrating individual successes, and greater attention should be paid to structural and systemic barriers to educational achievement.