Student Carers

• Download our official MySouthampton app onto your phone or tablet; this gives you easy access to your timetable, campus maps, university emails, travel information and more. 
• As you settle in to university life take some time to familiarise yourself with your campus – locate your Student Office, check out the Library and find the perfect spot for grabbing lunch.
• To help you study from any location, a number of University systems can be accessed remotely. The Southampton Virtual Environment (SVE) gives you access to your University desktop including all your files and the most popular pieces of software, from any device in any location. Microsoft365 can also downloaded to your personal device free of charge as a student at the university. 
• Everybody’s life and demands are different but managing your time effectively and making a plan that fits your study and home life commitments will help keep things on track.  
• If you need any help or support with managing your studies and caring commitments, speak to those around you - family, friends, tutors and advisors - who may be able to offer a hand or help you get on top of your workload. 
• Your family and friends at home can also provide an invaluable source of support and it can be useful to share with them aspects of your university life. Speak to those around, share with them your study plans and agree a time and space where you can study.
• Look after your own wellbeing; a bit of respite and self care can go a long way. Remember if you don't look after yourself and your own wellbeing, you won't be able to care for another.

Parking for students at the University is extremely limited and permit applications are restricted. You can only apply for a parking permit once you have created your university computing account and applications are submitted via the online database.

For those with caring responsibilities, you may need to supply supporting documentation from a social worker or a copy of your carer's assessment as part of your application and all cases are considered on a case by case basis.

If you’re commuting from home, you’ll find further information on travel and parking permits on our dedicated page for Living at Home Students.

Notify Your GP

Once you start caring, or if you already are caring for someone, we recommend that let your GP know. It can be recorded confidentially on your medical notes and if your GP knows you’re a carer, this will help them to offer you the specific advice and support you need for example:

• Explain medical conditions of and treatments for the person you care for
• Services you can get from the NHS
• Other places where you can get help and advice
• Home visits to you or the person you care for if you can’t get to the surgery
• Arranging appointments for both you and the person you care for at the same time
• Arranging for repeat prescriptions to be delivered to your local pharmacy (if available)

Carer's Assessment 

You are entitled to an assessment of your needs to help establish how you can balance your own health and wellbeing with your role as a carer. The assessment is free and your local council will use it to decide what support to give you. The assessment is usually a face-to-face meeting with someone from your local council, or from another organisation on behalf of your local council.

If your circumstances change you can ask for your assessment to be carried out again, this is particularly important if you can no longer provide the same level of care you’ve done in the past or if the needs of the person you care for have changed.

Further information on Carer's Assessments can be found here.

Carer's Allowance

Unfortunately, full-time students aren’t eligible to claim Carer’s Allowance. If you’re claiming Carer's Allowance prior to starting your course at the University, your eligibility for this benefit should be stopped once you've enrolled.

It is important that you notify the Jobcentre Plus that you have started full-time study to make sure you do not accrue subsequent overpayment. To find out what other benefits could be affected as a full time student, please click here. 

Managing your caring responsibilities

Jointly is an online tool which is designed to help support people caring for someone; it aims to make it a little easier to coordinate care provision and communicate with those who share the responsibilities. You may find these beneficial when trying to balance your caring responsibilities alongside your studies. 

You can also access benefits and discounts through the CarerSmart scheme, created by the Carers Trust to help carers and people with care needs.

There are many ways to get involved with university life and many opportunities to meet new people; try to explore the opportunities available to you, as these can be a great way of developing a peer support network. 

Clubs and Societies

The University of Southampton Students’ Union has over 200 societies covering a wide range of interests; these are a great opportunity to meet new people and maybe even try something new.

University Activities & Events

The University and Students' Union put on a range of activities and events throughout the year. To stay up to date with everything that is happening on our campuses make sure to check SUSSED, the University and Students’ Union Events Calendars, as well as the University’s social media channels. 

Become a Student Ambassador

Becoming an ambassador is great way to both meet other student and learn new skills, all while earning money. We are always looking for enthusiastic and friendly students to become Student Ambassadors to help with events organised by our Recruitment and Outreach team.

Working as a student ambassador can be fun and varied, providing you with a huge range of exciting challenges and opportunities to get involved with, alongside your studies. Further information and how to apply can be found here.

Make the most of those breaks in your timetable to do a bit of studying or to socialise with friends; you will find plenty of  facilities and resources on campus:

• Room Finder can be used to find any rooms on campus that have not been booked and are free to use. Any of the empty common learning spaces can be used for studying or group work.
• Hot Water is free of charge in all University and Students' Union catering outlets, so you can brew your own tea or coffee, just remember to pack your travel mug.
• There are a number of catering outlets on our campuses, use the online campus maps to show our catering outlets by selecting the catering layer; some of them even feature opening times and menus built directly into the map.
• If you ever find your devices running low on battery and need to ensure you're contactable, then there are charging Lockers available in the Students’ Union on the Concourse, speak to SUSU Reception for further information.  

There is additional information on our website for those living at home whilst they study.

The following websites have some useful advice and guidance for those balancing studying alongside caring responsibilities.

UCAS - Students with Caring Responsibilities

Carers Trust

Hope Support

Carers in Southampton

Southampton City Council - Carers

Carers UK

No Limits

NHS Social care and support guide

The University cannot accept responsibility for external websites.