St Mary’s Receive Award for its Commitment to Students from a Care Background

In recognition of its commitment to young people in and leaving care, St Mary’s University, Twickenham has been awarded the prestigious Buttle UK Quality Mark. Created by Buttle UK - the largest grant-giving organisation in the country directly supporting children and families living in poverty - the charity awards the Quality Mark to colleges and universities which commit to support a young person who has been in care, to access further and higher education and successfully complete their studies and achieve their ambitions. St Mary’s is dedicated to supporting all students and the services offered to looked after children and care leavers include pastoral support, an advisor for academic and non-academic issues, help with accommodation and the opportunity to apply to one of our 30 Care Leavers’ Scholarships. The Assessment Panel felt that the support structures at St Mary’s were good across all areas of the Quality Mark criteria, including the pre-enrolment programme, the scholarship that is offered as a cash award, sharing information across all structures with consent of the learner as well as the specific career advice in the learners final year of university. The Panel were also impressed with the clear information presented on the University's website. Susan Mueller, Buttle UK Quality Mark Manager, said, “We are very pleased with the success of this award and are delighted to extend it to St Mary’s. The University has amply displayed its dedication and initiative to helping young people leaving care to receive an education and have the opportunity to succeed and move on to the next stage of their lives. “Our Quality Mark is also a clear way for St Mary’s to demonstrate its credentials to partners, funders, inspectorates and the wider community – and importantly to the young people from care themselves.”