ARU experts shape new report to help young carers
Recommendations by APPG are presented to policymakers at Houses of Parliament
Dr Dangeni of ARU with Holly Cobb, a Young Adult Carer Policy and Practice Intern at the Carers Trust, who is also a Board member of the InterCare project at ARU
Research by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has helped to shape an important new report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Young Carers and Young Adult Carers.
Launched at the Houses of Parliament at an event attended by MPs, professionals working in the sector and young carers, the report sets out recommendations to help the estimated one million young carers in the UK balance their caring responsibilities with their aspirations for education, training and employment.
The APPG report highlights how in 2025, young carers were 25% less likely than their peers to leave secondary school with five GCSE passes including English and Maths.
The report, which draws on research by Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau and Dr Dangeni of ARU, also includes interviews with young adult carers. Of the participants who took part in the APPG inquiry, 75% said their caring role made it difficult to take part in training or education, 38% admitted they had either turned down or didn’t apply for a job because of caring responsibilities, and 49% said it had led to them missing out on education or training.
Professor Moreau and Dr Dangeni are helping to lead InterCare, a €1.3 million international project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. The four-year study is examining the opportunities and challenges faced by young adult caregivers in education and older adults receiving care across Germany, Poland and the UK.
Their evidence to the APPG highlighted how student carers remain an under-recognised and under-researched group, despite the significant short and long-term impacts of caring on education, employment, social mobility and quality of life.
Although young adult carers are estimated to represent between 3-6% of the UK university student population, ARU’s research shows that many choose not to disclose their caring responsibilities. This lack of visibility means there are currently no official statistics on the number of carers in UK higher education.
The emotional and physical demands of caregiving are also highlighted, with student carers reporting loss of social connections and limited opportunities to participate in extra activities and societies at university, as well as guilt when prioritising study over caring duties. Balancing the demands of care and learning is often described as being “exhausting”, “stressful” and “overwhelming”.
In their recommendations for Government and other key stakeholders, the APPG report calls for improvements in the identification and support of young adult carers in education and the need to address financial barriers that force young people to choose between learning and caring.
One key financial concern is the Carer’s Allowance, as currently this cannot be claimed by those in full‑time education, which is defined as more than 21 hours of study per week.
“Over the past decade, our research has focused on the challenges faced by students in higher education, including our ongoing international study exploring the complexities of intergenerational care in the UK, Germany and Poland.
“We know that many student carers’ paths into higher education are not linear, nor straightforward. For some, caring responsibilities affect school attendance and academic attainment, meaning they don’t gain the qualifications they need to go to university or for their future career.
“We hope our evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Young Carers and Young Adult Carers, and this important new report, will help to improve the lives of student carers, particularly around their access to and engagement with education.”
Marie-Pierre Moreau, Professor of Education at ARU