Delivered between April 2017 and March 2018, Learning and Work Institute’s Support for Colleges project provided targeted one-to-one support for six colleges throughout England to enable them to develop an effective and embedded whole organisational approach to working with young adult carers.

Funded by the Department for Education, we worked in partnership with the Carers Federation to develop and use the Quality Standard in Carer Support (QSCS) as a Framework to enable colleges to review, improve and evaluate their provision for young adult carers.

Participation in the project resulted in a range of positive outcomes for the colleges involved including the development of more comprehensive and tailored support for young adult carers.

There was also increased confidence amongst staff to identify and support young adult carers and external recognition of their support for young adult carers through the QSCS award, helping to make them an attractive option for future students and their parents/carers.

All participating colleges were successful in achieving the QSCS Standard.