New research from Become shows a worrying number of children in care are uprooted during their most pivotal educational years.
It was Benjamin Franklin who once said: ‘An investment in knowledge pays the best interest’, but how are care-experienced children supposed to get the best education when they’re constantly moved around?
Published just this morning, new research from the leading children’s charity Become shows kids are being moved between homes, schools or even out of the care system altogether, during their GCSEs and A-levels.
‘I had six moves during my A-level year, four placement moves and two going into respite because my foster carer went on holiday,’ Charlotte Levey, a young campaigner for Become, explained.
‘It was Covid at the time and we were being assessed on our coursework and mock exam results we were doing in that year. But throughout that year I had constat disruption. I was moving not achieving.’
To give context, the research outlines that one in three children in care, in years 10-13, had to move home. What’s more, one in eight had to move school or college and 30% were moved or had to leave care altogether during their A-level exam period.
Meanwhile, experts, who conducted the research by submitting Freedom of Information requests to 153 councils in England for the school year 2023/24, also discovered 13% of children were moved during their GCSE exam period.
Katherine Sacks-Jones, CEO of Become, said that moving schools is unsettling for most young people, but for children in care it is particularly upsetting because, their education is often the only thing they can count on to remain consistent.
‘When they’re uprooted mid-way through studying for their GCSEs or A-levels, or actually during exam periods, years of hard work vanish overnight,’ Katherine said. ‘Friendships end. Teachers disappear. It’s devastating, completely avoidable and can have a lifelong impact.’
Against this backdrop, the charity are calling on the government to ensure children in care face less disturbances during exam seasons.
‘The government must act now,’ Katherine added. ‘We need the right homes in the right places for children in care and a proper safety net of support for care leavers.
‘Only then will these children have a fair chance of doing well in school.’
A link to the full report can be found here.
Photo by Kenny Eliason
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